Sudurpaschim assembly member Prakash Bahadur Deuba absent for months, rumours of being in the US

Dhangadhi: Former minister of the Sudurpaschim Provincial Government and Provincial Assembly member Prakash Bahadur Deuba has not been in contact for the last six months. Following the Gen-z agitation on the 23rd and 24th, he has also lost contact with the Provincial Assembly Secretariat.

According to Nepali Congress leaders in Kailali close to Deuba, he left for the United States four days after the Gen-z agitation. A leader close to him said that Deuba had stated he would return to Nepal before the National Assembly member election held on Magh 11, but he has not returned yet. The same leader said that Deuba has now informed that he will return within a week.

Deuba has not attended a Provincial Assembly meeting for almost seven months. According to Article 193 of the Sudurpaschim Provincial Assembly Regulations 2080, if a Provincial Assembly member remains absent from 10 consecutive meetings without notice, the post may become vacant. However, the Provincial Assembly Secretariat stated that his position remains valid as only seven meetings have been held in the last seven months.

The secretariat has withheld the salary and benefits of Deuba, who is currently out of contact. According to an employee of the secretariat, the payment has been temporarily stopped as questions may arise over paying salary when he has not been in contact for a long time and has not provided official information. It is said that a lump sum salary facility may be provided after his return.

Similarly, the Nepali Congress parliamentary party has also stated that Deuba is not in contact. The parliamentary party’s chief whip, Bikram Singh Dhami, said that he does not know where Deuba is. He said, “The parliamentary party does not know where Prakash Bahadur Deuba is. We have not had any communication with him from any source.”

Prakash Bahadur Deuba is the nephew of outgoing Nepali Congress president Sher Bahadur Deuba. After winning the 2079 BS provincial assembly election, he aspired to become the Chief Minister of Sudurpaschim. However, after Kamal Bahadur Shah was elected as the party leader, Deuba became the Minister for Physical Infrastructure Development.

After the formation of the UML–Congress coalition government at the center, there were discussions about Deuba becoming the party leader and assuming the position of Chief Minister. However, after his aunt Arju Rana Deuba became the Foreign Minister in the federal government, there were reports that the Deuba family was not ready for a change in party leadership.

It is also said that the relationship between Chief Minister Shah and Deuba has cooled recently. Deuba has been expressing informal dissatisfaction with Chief Minister Shah’s working style, while Chief Minister Shah has also publicly commented about a lack of cooperation from within his own party.