KATHMANDU: In a fierce parliamentary session on Friday, Nepali Communist Party (NCP) leader Barshaman Pun turned Prime Minister Balen Shah’s own past rhetoric against him, demanding accountability for the self-immolation of a 25-year-old ride-share driver.

Ganesh Nepali, a rider from Mugu, died at Bir Hospital on Friday morning from burns covering 55% of his body. He set himself on fire outside the Department of Passports in Tripureshwar on Thursday after Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) municipal police locked his motorcycle wheel for parking and called a tow truck. Outraged by the aggressive enforcement, Nepali siphoned petrol from his fuel tank, doused himself, and ignited the flames.

Taking the floor in parliament, Pun drew sharp parallels to the January 24, 2023, self-immolation of Prem Acharya in New Baneshwar. He read aloud what Balen Shah—then Kathmandu’s mayor—had posted on social media at the time: “A citizen pours petrol over himself… to vent his despair… the biggest cause is the state. And the most terrifying sign is the state’s extreme failure.”

Pun then confronted the Prime Minister, asking the house whether Shah still considers such a tragedy a “state failure” now that his own administration’s enforcement practices have driven another working-class citizen to the same end. The confrontation triggered widespread backing from other opposition lawmakers, who are now demanding an immediate investigation into the city’s heavy-handed tactics.