Yogi Adityanth's Photo Displayed At Pro-Monarchist Rally In Nepal, Sparks Controversy
Yogi Adityanath's posters were seen at a pro-monarchist rally in Nepal, thus sparking a controversy, with accusations that the KP Oli-led government orchestrated the move to discredit the movement.
Posters of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at a rally in Nepal have sparked a row. According to the details, the posters of Adityanath were displayed at a pro-monarchist rally organised in Kathmandu on Sunday, to welcome former king Gyanendra Shah.
As soon as Gyanendra, 77, landed at the Tribhuvan International Airport from Pokhara on board the Simrik Air helicopter, hundreds of loyalists, including leaders and cadres of pro-monarchist Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), started chanting slogans in his favour.
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The rally was intended to demonstrate support for the reinstatement of monarchy in Nepal after Gyanendra returned from his visit to religious places in different parts of the country.
Hundreds of loyalists riding motorbikes carrying Gyanendra’s picture and national flags greeted him on both sides of the road outside the airport.
Meanwhile, some supporters also displayed photographs of Adityanath’s image alongside Gyanendra’s.
The photos of people carrying Adityanath’s posters were widely shared on social media and were criticised by various political factions as well as by the general public on social media.
One such post was also shared by Retired Major General GD Bakshi, who, in a lengthy X post, wrote, “The Former king of Nepal had just toured the country and has returned to Kathmandu to a grand welcome by over 4 lakh Nepali people."
“Posters of Yogi Aditya Nath have appeared in the rallies in Nepal. I pray for deliverance of the long suffering people of Nepal and the restoration of Hindu kingdom. Let the Will of the people prevail. The voice of the people is the voice of God," (sic), his post read.
Following the backlash, Gyanendra Shahi – a spokesperson for Nepal’s Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), alleged that the display of Adityanath’s photograph was a deliberate attempt to malign the pro-monarchist movement by the KP Oli-led government.
He accused the Oli government of orchestrating the move through infiltration.
“The photograph of Yogi Adityanath was displayed in the rally at the instruction of Bishnu Rimal, chief advisor of Prime Minister KP Oli, at the advice of Oli," Shahi claimed in a social media post on Sunday.
Rimal strongly refuted the allegations in a social media post, saying, “It was an illusion created through disinformation by the disqualified people who accidentally reached a responsible position."
Meanwhile, without naming Adityanath, Prime Minister Oli at a programme in Kathmandu on Monday said, “We don’t use photograph of foreign leaders in our rallies."
Gyanendra had reportedly met with Adityanath during his visit to Uttar Pradesh in January.
The former king supporters have been rallying in different parts of the country, including Kathmandu and Pokhara, for the past few days, demanding the reinstatement of the monarchy abolished in 2008 following the People’s Movement.
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