Nepal’s Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli resigned on Tuesday in the face of massive student-led anti-government protests that were strikingly similar to what happened in Bangladesh last year.
Across Kathmandu, demonstrators attacked private residences of several top politicians, including President Ramchandra Paudel, and vandalised the parliament.
The protests reflected the growing public anger with the political class over a range of issues. The immediate spark that blew up the anger at the government was a ban on social media, although the protesters insisted that the real target of the angst was pervasive corruption.
Oli stepped down shortly after hundreds of agitators entered his office shouting slogans demanding his resignation for the death of at least 19 people in police action during the protests on Monday, officials said.
In his resignation letter to President Paudel, Oli cited the "extraordinary circumstances" facing Nepal and said he is quitting to pave the way for a "constitutional and political" resolution of the current situation.
Flight services at the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu have been suspended in view of the precarious security situation, the officials said.
Though the Nepal government late Monday night revoked the ban on social media websites following the protests led by 'Gen Z' youths, the agitators continued their demonstration against corruption and demanding accountability for deaths of 19 people.
Hours before Oli's resignation, the protesters set on fire his private residence in Balkot, and attacked the homes of former prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, current communication minister Prithvi Subba Gurung, former home minister Ramesh Lekhak among others.
The protesters also attacked the private residence of President Paudel.
The agitators under the banner of Gen Z, shouted slogans such as "KP Chor, Desh Chhod" (KP thief, leave the country) and "Take Action Against Corrupt Leaders".
Protesters torched the residence of former home minister Ramesh Lekhak at Naikap in Kathmandu, just a day after he resigned from his post.
Demonstrations were reported from Kalanki, Kalimati, Tahachal, and Baneshwor in Kathmandu, as well as Chyasal, Chapagau, and Thecho areas of Lalitpur district. Protesters, mostly students, chanted slogans such as “Don’t kill students”, defying the restrictions on public gatherings.
In Kalanki, demonstrators burnt tyres to block roads.
The agitating youths pelted stones at the residence of communication minister Prithvi Subba Gurung in Sunakothi at Lalitpur district, witnesses said. Gurung had ordered the ban on the social media sites.
Former PM Sher Bahadur Deuba's house at Budhanilkantha in Kathmandu was also vandalised.
The Gen Z group, which has been campaigning against corruption for some time, has used social media platforms like Reddit and Instagram to expose what they called the "extravagant lifestyles of the children of ministers and other influential figures."
They have posted videos and images, questioning the sources of wealth that fund such opulence, purportedly derived from corrupt practices.
The ban of social media sites was an attempt to suppress freedom of speech, the agitators said.
The Nepal government had ordered the ban of 26 social media sites, including Facebook and ‘X’, over their failure to register with the government.
However, in a late-night development on Monday, the government announced the restoration of access to social media platforms, in an apparent bid to ease public anger.
Earlier in the day, Nepali Congress general secretary Gagan Thapa called for the immediate resignation of Oli. "PM Oli should immediately resign, taking responsibility for the situation," he wrote on social media.
Senior Nepali Congress leaders Bimalendra Nidhi and Arjun Narsingh Kesi have suggested that the party withdraw all its ministers from the government, form a government, and initiate dialogue with the agitating Gen Z group.
