KATHMANDU, Nov 29: Former police officers known for their action-oriented performance and “Singham” image—but largely detached from politics—are now eager to enter politics with the aim of “building the nation.” Their political ambitions did not begin only after the Gen-Z movement; even earlier, many police officers had begun linking their post-retirement plans with politics, positioning themselves for a nation-building mission.
Former IGP Sarbendra Khanal has already registered the “Samunnat Nepal Party” at the Election Commission. He is now engaged in organizational expansion and is in talks with Gen-Z youth. Moving ahead with aggressive speeches against old and existing parties, Khanal has said he will officially announce his party in a few days. “There will be a party announcement program in a few days; I’ll speak only after that,” he said.
Khanal has already contested the House of Representatives (HoR) elections twice with the CPN-UML ticket. Former police officials say they have entered politics because corrupt politicians have caused suffering to the people.
Former AIG Bishwaraj Pokharel joined the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) on Friday. He has long accused the traditional parties—under whose support he rose, getting promoted through Nepali Congress (NC) and UML backing—of doing nothing and even blocking his path to becoming IGP.
Pokharel, who was promoted at lightning speed in the past—causing injustice to deserving officials through the influence of UML’s senior vice-president Ishwar Pokhrel—has now entered RSP, claiming he wants to “build the nation.” He has been delivering fiery speeches, saying he will now work with the same lightning speed for the country after joining the RSP.
GENXT unveils HTC phones
Former AIG Ganesh Rai, who once joined Baburam Bhattarai’s party, had also made fiery speeches in the name of development and change. Pokharel, who served 29 years in the Nepal Police, had been claiming he lived with integrity. While he often spoke of being treated unfairly, he never addressed how his own promotions had caused injustice to others.
Pokharel joined RSP on Friday. Although he was promoted to AIG just 17 months earlier, he resigned after Dhiraj Pratap Singh—his batchmate—was appointed IGP. He accused Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba’s side of demanding money to make him IGP.
Joining the police as an Inspector on March 25, 1993, Pokharel was ranked eighth. Singh, who later became IGP, was ranked first. On July 26, 2005, when promoted to DSP, Singh remained first while Pokharel dropped to 24th. Their group was again promoted to SP on January 24, 2013—Singh remained first, while Pokharel placed seventh. His rise began only after Ishwar Pokharel started backing him.
Former DIG Ramesh Kharel, who spent 29 years in the Nepal Police, had formed the Nepal Sushasan Party. He contested the 2022 federal election from Kathmandu-1 constituency under his own party and later contested the Bara by-election from RSP.
Kharel is now inactive and silent. He resigned on April 11, 2018, after the government appointed then-DIG Sarbendra Khanal as IGP. Kharel had joined the Nepal Police in 1988 as a volleyball player. Along with former IGP Sarbendra Khanal and former AIG Pushkar Karki, he passed the inspector exam on February 11, 1990. When his batchmate and top-ranked Sarbendra Khanal was appointed IGP, Kharel left the organization.
Many who once aligned with political factions inside the police have now entered politics. Those responsible for inviting political influence into the police now claim politics caused institutional distortion—yet they themselves are trying to become politicians. On October 6, 2017, then-DIG Nawaraj Silwal joined the UML.
At a program organized by UML’s Kathmandu District Committee on Friday, UML Chair KP Oli welcomed Silwal to the party with tika and garlands. Silwal is now the elected secretary of the party's Bagmati Province Committee. When the then-Pushpa Kamal Dahal government appointed Jay Bahadur Chand as IGP, Silwal went to court. Since Chand had lower performance evaluations than Silwal, the court halted the appointment, after which the government appointed Prakash Aryal as IGP.
Because he went to court, Silwal was not promoted to AIG. Claiming he received no justice even from the court, Silwal resigned and entered politics. He ran for the HoR in 2017 from Lalitpur and won, defeating strong NC candidate Udaya Shamsher Jabara. He contested again in 2022 from the same constituency but lost.
Likewise, former SSP Bikram Singh Thapa entered the NC but is no longer active. Another SSP, Govinda Sah, resigned and entered politics; he ran as an independent candidate in the last local elections but failed to become mayor. He is now inactive. During the Panchayat era, DB Lama, Khadgajit Baral, and Dhruba Bahadur Pradhan were active in electoral politics; Pradhan is still in politics. Ganesh Rai, however, has already abandoned politics.
A Demand for Seats
Back in July 2014, the Nepal Former Police Organization/Council demanded that former police officers also be represented in the Constituent Assembly through the 26 nominated seats.
At a press conference on Sunday, the Nepal Former Police Organization/Council demanded that 26 National Assembly members be appointed from their side, recognizing their contributions to the nation.
At that time, SSP Basanta Raj Kunwar, who was the council’s general secretary, said former police had played a major role in many political changes in the country and therefore deserved representation.
Former AIG Kalyan Timilsina also said former police officers were responsible citizens of the state and had significantly contributed to major political transformations—arguing they should be given a share as well.
