Sanjeeb Phuyal is the Nepali Editor of Newschecker based in Kathmandu, Nepal. He brings over a decade of experience writing and editing news. In his previous stint, he worked as online editor for The Kathmandu Post. With the growth of social media platforms—and the ever-growing competition amongst media outlets to churn out breaking news, he feels that fact-checking every piece of information has become more essential today than ever before.
Claim
Deputy Mayor of Kathmandu Sunita Dangol quit CPN-UML to support Mayor Balendra Shah.
Fact
No, Sunita Dangol has not quit the CPN-UML.
A video claiming that Deputy Mayor of Kathmandu Sunita Dangol has quit her party Communist Party of Nepal –Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) to support Mayor of Kathmandu Balendra Shah is going viral on TikTok.
The claim goes viral in the wake of confrontation between Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) mayor Balen Shah and KMC Ward 22 chairman Chin Kaji Maharjan over the expansion of pedestrian’s path in New Road. Sunita Dangol was elected as deputy mayor of Kathmandu from CPN-UML ticket in the local level election held in May 2022, while Balendra Shah ‘Balen’ was elected mayor as an independent candidate.
Against this backdrop, TikTok user @sarojsitaula5719 posted a video on TikTok carrying an image of KMC deputy mayor Sunita Dangol. Text superimposed on the video reads, “It is said that deputy mayor of Kathmandu Sunita Dangol has left the CPN-UML to support Balen Shah. Well done deputy mayor.” Voice-over accompanying the video says, “Deputy mayor of Kathmandu Sunita Dangol has abandoned the CPN-UML. She has reservations over the directive issued by the CPN-UML to encircle Balen Shah. The CPN-UML and KMC Mayor Balen Shah have recently been trading barbs. The CPN-UML leaders and cadres including party Chairman KP Sharma Oli have been annoyed with mayor Balen and they have been expressing dissatisfaction with the work of Balen Shah. Balen’s Shah’s latest move to expand footpaths in New Road was objected to by the CPN-UML…”
The video posted on TikTok June 21 has garnered 24.6k likes, 341 users have shared it and 1041 people have commented on the post.
The archived version of the TikTok video can be seen here.
Newschecker found the claim to be misleading.
Fact Check /Verification
To check the authenticity of the claim made in the viral video, Newschecker ran a search on Google by using relevant keywords and found an article, dated June 26, published on Kathmandu Post daily. The article reported that deputy mayor Dangol, during a city council meeting on June 24, criticised the “incendiary statements” of mayor Balen Shah.
Taking a clue from it, we ran a search on Google and found an article, dated June 24, published on Annapurna online, which noted that deputy mayor Dangol urged mayor Balen Shah to maintain the dignity of the institution he represents while making any statements. The article also carried a video clip of deputy mayor speaking during the city council meeting.
Thus, our findings indicate that Kathmandu deputy mayor Dangol has not announced that she has quit the CPN-UML.
Further, Newschecker reached out to Bishwo Shakya, personal aide to deputy mayor Sunita Dangol, who confirmed that the deputy mayor has not decided to quit the CPN-UML, and the viral video is fake.
Conclusion
No, deputy mayor of Kathmandu, Sunita Dangol has not quit the CPN-UML. The viral video is misleading.
Result: False
Sources
Kathmanadu Post, June 26, 2024
Annapurna Post, June 24, 2024
My Republica, June 24, 2024
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Sanjeeb Phuyal is the Nepali Editor of Newschecker based in Kathmandu, Nepal. He brings over a decade of experience writing and editing news. In his previous stint, he worked as online editor for The Kathmandu Post. With the growth of social media platforms—and the ever-growing competition amongst media outlets to churn out breaking news, he feels that fact-checking every piece of information has become more essential today than ever before.
