- 2 days ago
Exclusive interview with Nepal's outgoing Minister for Forest and Environment, Mr. Madhav Chaulagain, on the dramatic political changes following the Gen Z protests and September 2025 riots that ousted KP Sharma Oli. He shares insights on Balendra ‘Balen’ Shah's overwhelming mandate with Rashtriya Swatantra Party's victory in the 2026 elections, the interim government's peaceful handling of unrest under PM Sushila Karki, neighboring countries' (especially India's) supportive role, comparisons with Bangladesh, and hopes for strong India-Nepal ties under the new government. A candid look at Nepal's youth-led democratic renewal and future priorities.
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00:01How do you assess Balin's this kind of victorious mandate?
00:08So he has been instrumental in changing the people's mindset, the understanding and the hope.
00:19The government got toppled post-youth-led protest.
00:23Nepal has, as I mentioned earlier, we are very diverse in terms of not just geography or ecologically, but we
00:32have caste, ethnicity, peoples.
00:39How do you see the relationship between India and Nepal evolving under this new government?
00:51Since we have people-to-people relationship, so government-to-government relationship should also cherish that and maintain that to
01:00the next level.
01:09Today, we are being exclusively joined by Madhya Prasad Chol again,
01:14and Nepal's minister for forest and environment, the outgoing minister in the interim government.
01:23After the Gen Z protest and the 2025 riots which forced K.P. Shama Oli's ouster,
01:31Nepal witnessed a very successful election wherein Balin Shah and Rasheel Swatantra party emerged victorious.
01:42Today, Mr. Chol again joins us to discuss Balin's mandate,
01:48neighboring countries' role post Oli's ouster,
01:51and also the interim government's handling of the unrest among others.
01:56Thank you, sir, for joining us.
01:58Mr. Chol again, first I would like to understand,
02:01how do you assess Balin's this kind of victorious mandate?
02:07It's overwhelming in terms of the way his team created a massive interest to select the new faces,
02:23to elect new faces in the country.
02:25So, he has been a quite inspiring figure among the youths, not only youths,
02:32I think for all kind of people in the country for the last couple of years.
02:39Before becoming the mayor of the metropolitan capital city of Kathmandu,
02:47he was also popular among the youngster.
02:51So, he has been an inspiring and interesting figure over the past many years,
02:59and especially in this context.
03:02So, he has been instrumental in changing the people's mindset, the understanding,
03:09and the hope, especially the people have seen a hope in him that he can make a change.
03:18That's why he created his image around the years.
03:24Mr. Chol again, now if we come back to the interim government,
03:29everybody saw what happened back in September of 2025.
03:33If we were to ask you, in your assessment, how do you think the interim government handled,
03:41how good it was in handling the unrest that we saw last year in September of 2025?
03:50Yeah, thankfully, now we have the outcome of the election.
03:55So, it went very successfully, it created a record that within a very short time,
04:03we could turn out this in a peaceful manner.
04:06So, looking at the beginning, you know, the September unrest,
04:10everybody was skeptical, you know, amidst this chaotic situation.
04:16I mean, there was a lot of, like, disbelief that how could, you know, this level, this scale of unrest
04:23can be, you know, settled in a very peaceful manner.
04:25So, within the government, within the country and outside of the world,
04:33people have, you know, skeptical view over the transparency,
04:42actually, you know, the capacity of, you know, delivering these things.
04:46But, you know, our Prime Minister, Susila Kharki, you know, under her command,
04:52the team, the cabinet member, they worked so hard,
04:57and with the honest, the integrity that, you know, our main focus was to, you know,
05:04like most of them, you know, we respect the, they were from the legal background,
05:12and they knew the, what does the constitution mean, you know, what is legitimate process means.
05:19So, despite this, you know, this, this revolution,
05:24so, bringing the country into a peaceful transition,
05:27it requires a lot of thoughtful process, and, and, and patience, you know.
05:34So, so, so this all element, I think it, it, it was, it was successfully materialized.
05:42So, looking at, you know, those couple of weeks in the beginning,
05:46and now after, you know, coming into the entire country into the political,
05:52the election mood was very interesting, you know, until last week of election,
05:58people are still skeptical whether it will actually happen or not.
06:01So, there are two factors. One, whether all parties would come into this, this election process or not,
06:10you know, that was one kind of distress.
06:12Other is, you know, even we're looking at this, it's just like we're, it's winter is over.
06:18So, between Nepal, it's mountainous countries, you know, very diverse.
06:22It's still like, some people are, if they're like heavy rainfall, snowfall, you know, it would hamper.
06:28But, I mean, this all kind of, like, situation, so it, it, it actually happened, happened for a good, yeah.
06:38Mr. Chalaghan, if we circle back to the unrest only.
06:44In such scenarios, the neighboring countries always play a huge role.
06:49In that case, how do you see the neighboring countries?
06:52What was their role in stabilizing whatever was happening in Nepal last year post K.P.S.A. Maoli's outstep?
07:01Of course, like always, you know, because, I mean, neighbors, you know, if you, if you, if you, if you,
07:08if you take that example in a village, we have a village, village countries.
07:12So, the neighbors, you know, you have so many relations, so established there.
07:18We are connected by land or by other cooperative things.
07:23So, if neighbors do not help, you cannot succeed, right?
07:29If there is, so, so, so the relationship with the neighboring countries actually means a lot.
07:35So, in this case, India has been a very good neighbor, you know, from the very beginning, you know, the,
07:41India respected the, the popular voice, the democratic, its youth voice, you know, that, that was, that reflection has come
07:50in, you know, all the, all over the media.
07:52Even, even the government also supported in this process.
07:56Even when we are working on the election process, especially India and later China as well.
08:03So, our two close neighbors, they supported India from the beginning actually supported very much for this democratic transition.
08:15So, actually, it plays a very vital role.
08:18And beside our neighboring countries, there are other friendly countries of Nepal.
08:25They also helped.
08:27They, they extended their good wishes and there's many countries supported in other, other ways as well.
08:33So, without their support, it could not have been, you know, success in this way.
08:38So, thanks to them all.
08:41Mr. Cholagin, now that we are on the topic of the kind of role the neighboring countries play, if we
08:48were to draw a parallel between Nepal and Bangladesh, in both the countries, the government was toppled post a youth
08:56-led protest.
08:57However, at the same time, in your opinion, how do you think and what do you think the situation in
09:03Nepal, how different was it as compared to Bangladesh?
09:08Well, and yeah, we are also like watching Bangladesh progress, you know, like, I mean, yeah, it took a while
09:17to materialize the election in Bangladesh.
09:19And even the, the first youth force, they, those, those people expected that they will come into the position.
09:28But somehow, I mean, the, the, the, the, finally the election in Bangladesh happened, but Nepal materialized that this election,
09:36you know, quite in time and in very short time, like just in six months.
09:40Because, I think there might be a good reason, like Nepal experience, Nepal has, as I mentioned earlier, you know,
09:48we are very diverse, diverse in terms of not just only geography or ecologically, but we have like caste, ethnicity,
09:56peoples, right?
09:57There are different linguistic diversity as well.
09:59So, so, so this diversity were mainstreamed, you know, from the past exercise, democratic exercise, from maybe in 30 years
10:12or so.
10:13So that characteristics, I think, led the, all other political parties, the new youth force, I mean, they gradually, you
10:23know, respected this diversity and, and people's mandate.
10:26So, even though there were like, disbelief in the system in the beginning, on the, at the time of this
10:35unrest, but soon after, even the youth, who actually were in front, for front of this unrest, this revolution,
10:44they realized the importance of this election ballot or democratic process to have a peaceful transition, as well as to
10:53achieve their demand, their agenda, like, as in that, you know, as in that constitutional reform may be other reform
11:02as well.
11:03So, so, so that, that understanding is actually like people's, like, they supported, like, you know, each other, like, you
11:13know, common people also participated in the process, the youth, the previous party, the leaders.
11:20So, so they all come into one conclusion that if we have to maintain a peaceful peace and prosperity in
11:26the country, so this is the way to go.
11:28Actually, it actually probed very true that even there are some skeptical views in the past that, you know, within
11:36this current constitutional framework, nobody could get a, like, you know, two-third majority or highest majority.
11:42Always we are crippling under the hung parliament because of the kind of system, the election system or the democratic
11:52system we follow here, the party system.
11:55But this all proved wrong this time. So, it is possible if you, if you really set an agenda, you
12:02know, if you have an agenda for the people, by the people.
12:06So, in this all ways, I think this is somewhere, the characteristics that was developed in the country, the characteristics
12:13of these principles, the Lok Tantric principles or, like, the democratic principles.
12:20So, I think that was the reason why you could materialize this in time and quite a short period of
12:26time.
12:26Yeah.
12:28Mr. Cholagian, when it comes to the new government coming into power, so much will be, there are so many
12:38things that needs their utmost care and attention, be it at the domestic platform or at the foreign level.
12:48So, what are the issues that require immediate attention of this new government? And also, what kind of attention should
12:56the, should this new government be giving to the foreign policies given it is coming at a time when so
13:02much is happening in West Asia?
13:05Right. Yeah, you are right. Like, at the domestic level, within the system, I mean, these people's unrest, the reason
13:12behind this unrest is people are not satisfied with the delivery of the previous government system.
13:20So, they need some kind of governance, right? So, they need some kind of governance, good governance, right? Establishing good
13:24governance, you need some measures like it may be reforming some legal provisions or the instruments, legal instruments, or setting
13:37this, reforming the bureaucracy, which is the delivery mechanism of the political aspirations and agenda.
13:44So, bringing that into a safe, making an efficient and performance-oriented governance is one of the big challenges, you
13:55know, that actually contributes to the agenda of preventing the corruption.
14:04So, so, so, so, so, so that is a thing to, to, to take care in, within the country.
14:10So, and, and in the, at the foreign level, as you are right, Leonard, there are lots of geopolitical tensions
14:15going on, but Nepal being a country, which I, we, we, we, we keeps the neutral stance for, for, for,
14:22and then we have our own principles of doing, working with, with, with our friendly countries, neighbor countries.
14:31So, so, this new government should maintain that relationship and, and bring that to the next level.
14:38So, and this, I have seen some indication that, you know, they are careful, the, the upcoming, the leadership is,
14:46is quite, you know, they understand this, this nuance of, you know, maintaining that relationship and bringing that to the
14:53new level.
14:54So, and they, I have seen like some, some, some, some early communication, early post sharing.
15:01So, they are committed to have the Nepal's foreign relationship to, to the level that, that actually help our country
15:09become prosperous, you know, bring peace in the country.
15:13So, I am very hopeful that they will care, take care of this in very efficient, very successful manner in
15:21future.
15:22Mr. Chalagin, now my last question to you. India is one of the closest neighboring countries for Nepal. How do
15:31you see the relationship between India and Nepal evolving under this new government?
15:37Mr. Chalagin also, when in the past, you have seen the kind of critical comments that have been made by
15:43Balinsha?
15:45I mean, yeah, there is some other media also interested on like, you know, whether that will, you know, change
15:51or what it really means, what is there.
15:54And I don't think that they will, that kind of, if there had been anything, you know, it will create
16:01a situation, a difficult situation in future.
16:04And that's absolutely not, not an issue because the relationship, you know, when we have certain role, you know, you
16:11have to perform according to the role you have received, right?
16:15You have achieved. So, it's, it's a teamwork. And Nepal, India, in particularly, you know, our relationship is as world,
16:24you know, it's, it's how we share the civilization, we share the trade, we share the ecosystem, biodiversity, and so
16:31many, not just only cultural, it's a natural connections also there, you know, nobody can actually prevent that, that relationship
16:38becoming flourish.
16:40So, so, so I think, you know, looking at from that ground level, so the government, you know, like, since
16:47we have people to people relationship, so government to government relationship should also cherish that and maintain, you know, that
16:56to the next level.
16:57Because what do you work, where you work for the people, right? So, so maintaining that is very crucial thing
17:02and, and new government, you know, they, they are, they actually speak the people's language, you know, the, the youth's
17:09language.
17:09And even like youth between Nepal and India, they have a very good relationship. Even like Balenciaga just recently, in
17:17his ex post, congratulated India for winning the T20 World Cup.
17:25So, you know, that level of like a sports connection is there, music connections is there, you know, traditional, the
17:33cultural connection is there. So, looking at that ground, I think it will be more productive, and more creative relationship
17:40that they are going to maintain with India.
17:42That's what I believe. And then they should also focus on that as well. Because we know that economically Nepal,
17:50we're, we're, we're, we're aiming to graduate from least developed country to, to next level.
17:57So, India is, is an economic, you know, economic power center, you know, in, in this side of the world,
18:05especially in, in, in the South Asian context.
18:08So, uh, we can benefit from, you know, these Indian technologies, economic opportunities. So, uh, to fulfill, uh, the, the,
18:17the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the,
18:17the, our aspirations as well.
18:19So, uh, so, uh, these are the area, I think, definitely, uh, they will look up and look into, uh,
18:26it's, uh, so, yeah, it will definitely, uh, and, and lastly, uh, this, this, this, this new upcoming government is
18:34providing a stable government, you know, these people's mandate is in that way.
18:37So, if the government is stable, so bilateral relationship also becomes stable and they bring to the new level because
18:44you don't have, like, multiple centers to, you know, maintain the relationship.
18:47So, you have one and for long, uh, at least, you know, for, for a certain duration of time.
18:53So, this pro, this will provide a good opportunity for, for, for our countries, neighboring countries to maintain the, you
19:00know, start the, the, the, the fresh start and bring that to a new level.
19:04So, I think, uh, good days are, uh, there for bilateralization also.
19:09That's what I feel.
19:12Thank you, Mr. Chalagin.
19:13I mean, you have, uh, very clearly shown a lot of confidence in Balainsha and his, uh, new government.
19:19You can, uh, your insights were extremely candid and, um, uh, your insights, uh, on, uh, Nepal's historic transition and,
19:28uh, Balainsha's victorious mandate will help, uh, viewers and people around the world, uh, change perspective post whatever happened in
19:38September of 2025.
19:40Right. So, thank you so much for joining us and speaking to us exclusively.
19:44Yeah. Thank you so much.
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