Even as Nepal’s new prime minister Khadga Prasad Oli took the oath of office yesterday, the challenges before him appeared to be unfolding rapidly. As the first prime minister of the Himalayan republic following its adoption of a new constitution, Oli will have to handle all residual protests over the same, while scrambling for national resources to rebuild Nepal after April’s devastating earthquake and a crippling fuel shortage. And then there is also the country’s rising tensions with India, which are taking less than subtle nuances of late.
In many ways, the election of Oli marks a new departure for Nepal. He was part of a brief and violent Communist uprising more than 40 years ago and hails from the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist). Despite that apparently radical tag, however, Oli was backed by a coalition of royalists, Maoists and centrists in the latest vote. In a further sign of compromise, Oli appointed two deputies, both leaders of groups that are protesting the new constitution — one from the Madhesi group, who are calling for better representation in parliament, and the other from a party that is demanding Nepal be restored as a Hindu state.
But more crucially, the Madhesis have led demonstrations in the south, which have hampered the flow of fuel and other goods from India. While India was among the first countries to congratulate Oli, its arc of action, which began with an extraordinary outreach to its neighbours last year by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and rushing aid to Nepal following the earthquake, appears to have been undone in part with the adoption of Nepal’s new constitution and the election of the outspoken Oli. From a security perspective, Nepal represents a critical frontier for India and the ripples of any instability in relations will be felt across sub-continental geopolitics.
