Nepal's foreign minister responds on 'BJP to expand abroad' claim; lodges formal objection

After Sri Lanka, Nepal has now responded to a recent statement made by BJP leader and Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb in which he quoted Union Home Minister Amit Shah as saying that the party would soon form its government in the Himalayan and island neighbours.

'Formal objection has been already conveyed'

Replying to a Twitter user who shared a news report on Deb's remarks, Nepal's Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali said, "Noted. Formal objection has been already conveyed". Nepal's ambassador to India Nilamber Acharya has already conveyed the government's official objection to Arindam Bagchi, a joint secretary who is in-charge of Nepal and Bhutan affairs at India's Ministry of External Affairs, My Republica newspaper reported, citing sources.

On Monday, Sri Lanka's Election Commission Chairman Nimal Punchihewa shot down reports of the BJP planning to set up a political unit in the island nation, saying the country's electoral law does not permit such an arrangement. "Any Sri Lankan political party or group is permitted to have external links with any party or group overseas. But, our electoral laws do not permit overseas political parties to work here," Punchihewa told reporters in Colombo.

Deb was quoted in media reports as saying that the BJP was planning to extend its footprint in Sri Lanka and Nepal. On Saturday, Deb said Shah, when serving as BJP president, had told party leaders that the BJP would establish rule in other regional countries as part of 'Atmanirbhar South Asia' initiative.

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'Now Sri Lanka and Nepal is left'

“We were talking in the state guest house when Ajay Jamwal (North-East Zonal Secretary of BJP) said that BJP has formed its government in several states of India, in reply Shah said, Now Sri Lanka and Nepal is left. We have to expand the party in Sri Lanka, Nepal and win there to form a government,” the Chief Minister said quoting the Union Home Minister.

According to a report in news portal East Mojo, Deb said it was only under the leadership of Amit Shah that the BJP became the world’s largest party. "The communist had claimed that their party was the largest in the world, which Amit Shah broke by making BJP the largest party in the world. Deendayal Upadhyaya’s party, Shyama Prasad’s party, Prishtha Pramukh’s party," Deb added.

"The BJP will change the trend of change of government between the Left and the Congress every five years in Kerala and emerge as the winner in the southern state as well," he said. It is not immediately clear how serious Deb was about Shah's purported remarks.

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(With agency inputs)