BINOD NEUPANE

Do you recognise the person in the picture? It is Prakash Dahal, son of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda'. The location is Dhulikhel Lodge Resort. During their revolution, the Maoists banned alcohol, a move that was appreciated by the people. A year hasn't yet passed since the Maoist chairman Dahal took over as the country's prime minister. But his son, who also holds an important position in the party, was caught last Sunday, drunk.

PM Dahal and Finance Minister Baburam Bhattarai were in Dhulikhel on Sunday to discuss Kathmandu University and Dhulikhel Hospital. While Dahal and Bhattarai were busy in discussions, Prakash made merry. He coaxed party members, accompanying traffic police and journalists to join him. Prakash was even serving the drinks. At the end of it, Prakash was so knocked out that he did not even attend the dinner party. The journalists there could not ignore this juicy piece of news and let their cameras roll. But Prakash's supporters pressurised them to delete the pictures and snatched away their cameras. A journalist from a Maoist paper even commented that such sights should not be recorded and the press should not focus on "negative issues".