Oli, Prachanda, Deuba: Nepal’s protesters target all sides of political spectrum

Nepal’s protesters have not just targeted Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli but have gone after some of the biggest politicians across party lines.

A day after the police crackdown killed 19 persons and injured more than 400, Oli resigned as the Prime Minister of Nepal on Tuesday. But that did not stop protesters’ movement. They have continued to attack politicians, their homes, government buildings, and political parties’ offices.

After setting fire to Oli’s private home earlier in the day, protesters on Tuesday attacked private homes of former Prime Ministers Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ and Sher Bahadar Deuba.

In the attack at Deuba’s home, protesters attacked Deuba and his wife Arzu Rama Deuba, who is the foreign minister in Oli’s outgoing government. Visuals of Deuba and Arzu appeared in the media in which the former prime minister was seen being dragged by people. He had blood on his clothes and his head appeared to be bleeding.

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While Prachanda is a veteran Maoist leader of the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist Centre (CPN-MC), Deuba is the President of Nepali Congress, a coalition partner of Oli’s Communist Party of Nepal—Unified Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML).

Elsewhere in Kathmandu, protesters set fire to the parliament and also vandalised the Supreme Court.

Witnesses told Nepal’s Khabar Hub outlet that protesters breached security barriers and forced their way inside the parliamentary complex before torching parts of the building. The outlet reported that thick plumes of smoke were seen rising from the premises as security forces scrambled to regain control.

Protesters also torched the Nepali Congress’ central committee office in Lalitpur near Kathmandu.

As protesters continued attacking politicians, the Nepali army evacuated ministers from Kathmandu’s Bhaisepati neighbourhood in helicopters, according to The Kathmandu Post.