KATHMANDU: Senior Nepali Congress leader Shekhar Koirala has raised serious concerns over the ruling CPN-UML’s move to fast-track the Land Bill, even as one of its ministers remains in office despite being implicated in a major bribery scandal.

Taking to Facebook on Wednesday, Koirala remarked that the UML’s proposal to expedite the passage of the Land Bill through a fast-track process has raised significant suspicion, especially at a time when Minister for Land Management, Cooperatives, and Poverty Alleviation Balram Adhikari has not yet resigned despite his alleged involvement in the Pokhara land bribery case.

“One of the two ministers from the UML implicated in the Pokhara land bribery scandal—Land Reform Minister—is still holding office. In such a situation, UML’s push to pass the land bill through fast-track has raised a lot of doubts. These two matters cannot be treated separately,” Koirala wrote in his post.

He further asserted that this is not the kind of good governance the Nepali Congress had expected from the current coalition government.

“The Nepali Congress did not seek this kind of governance from the government,” he added.

Koirala demanded an impartial investigation into all those involved in the Pokhara land scandal—including ministers, lawmakers, government employees, and middlemen.

He also called for in-depth discussions on the Land Bill in the concerned parliamentary committee, rather than hasty passage.

His remarks come amid growing pressure on the government following the resignation of Minister for Federal Affairs and General Administration Raj Kumar Gupta, who stepped down after being linked to a bribery case.

Minister Balram Adhikari, continues to hold office despite being named in an alleged audio recording related to land deals in Pokhara.