The Nepali Congress has decided to strongly counter what it describes as organised attempts to spread disinformation and conspiracies against the party and its leadership. The decision was reached at a meeting of the party's office-bearers held on Thursday at the party's central office in Sanepa, Kathmandu. Briefing the media after the meeting, party General Secretary Prakash Rasaili said the gathering had concluded that individuals enjoying state protection were being used to create confusion and conspiracy against the party and its leadership, and that the Nepali Congress had resolved to strongly oppose and protest such efforts.

Office-Bearers Meet at Sanepa Headquarters

The meeting, convened at the party's central office in the Sanepa neighbourhood of Kathmandu, brought the Congress's senior office-bearers together to discuss what the leadership views as a deliberate campaign to undermine the party's standing. Discussions centred on allegations that false and misleading narratives were being intentionally circulated to target both the organisation and its leading figures.

According to Rasaili, the meeting concluded that the alleged campaign was not merely the work of ordinary political critics. Instead, the office-bearers assessed that people described as being under state protection were being deployed to spread confusion and build conspiracy against the party and its top leadership. On that basis, the meeting decided that the party would firmly counter the attempts rather than remain passive in the face of what it considers a coordinated effort.

Key Outcomes of the Meeting

As announced by the party following the discussions, the meeting's principal outcomes were:

  • A decision to strongly counter alleged attempts to spread disinformation and confusion against the Nepali Congress and its leadership;
  • A conclusion that state-protected individuals were being used to create confusion and conspiracy against the party;
  • A resolve to strongly oppose and protest such efforts.

Rasaili Conveys the Party's Position

As general secretary, Prakash Rasaili is one of the Congress's principal office-bearers and regularly serves as the public voice of the party's central decisions. In his post-meeting briefing, he conveyed the collective conclusion of the office-bearers: that the party and its leadership were facing deliberate attempts to spread confusion, and that those involved in the alleged campaign enjoyed state protection.

The decision combines two elements. First, the party has committed itself to publicly countering the disinformation it says is being spread against it. Second, it has resolved to protest against the alleged misuse of state-protected individuals, signalling that it does not intend to let the campaign pass without a response. The announcement, as carried by Nepali news outlets including Nepalpress, Khabarhub and Ratopati, focused on the decision itself and did not spell out the specific forms the counter-campaign and protests would take.

Nepal's Oldest Democratic Party

The Nepali Congress, the party at the centre of Thursday's decision, is Nepal's oldest democratic political party. Founded in 1947, it played a key role in the movement that brought an end to the Rana regime in 1951, led the 1990 popular movement that restored multiparty democracy, and was a central force in the 2006 people's movement that paved the way for the end of monarchy and the establishment of the federal democratic republic.

Over the decades, the party has remained one of the largest political forces in the country, and several of Nepal's prime ministers have emerged from its ranks. Given that prominence, the party and its leaders have frequently found themselves at the centre of political controversy, and its public positions on criticism and allegations carry considerable weight in national politics. Thursday's decision reflects the leadership's assessment that the recent narratives directed against it have gone beyond ordinary political criticism into what it regards as deliberate disinformation.

Disinformation and Nepal's Political Climate

Concerns over disinformation have been growing in Nepal in recent years. The rapid spread of social media platforms has made it easier for false or misleading claims to reach large audiences quickly, and political parties, state institutions and civil-society groups have repeatedly voiced alarm about coordinated attempts to shape public opinion through false content. Allegations of smear campaigns have become a familiar feature of the country's competitive politics, with rival political forces frequently accusing one another of manipulating public narratives.

Against that backdrop, the Congress's decision underlines how seriously the party's leadership views the alleged campaign against it. By announcing its response publicly through a formal office-bearers' meeting and a media briefing, the party has signalled that it plans to confront the issue head-on rather than allow the allegations to circulate unanswered.

What Comes Next

The party has made clear that protest will form part of its response, although the announcement did not specify when, where or in what form the Congress intends to demonstrate its opposition. As with most central-level decisions, the practical details of any counter-campaign are likely to be worked out by the party's organisational structures after the leadership sets the broader direction.

For now, the message emerging from the Sanepa headquarters is unambiguous. The Nepali Congress believes it is the target of an organised conspiracy involving state-protected individuals, and it has chosen to respond not with silence but with a public commitment to counter the disinformation and to protest against those it holds responsible. Further details of the party's planned course of action were not immediately available.