Newchecker.in is an independent fact-checking initiative of NC Media Networks Pvt. Ltd. We welcome our readers to send us claims to fact check. If you believe a story or statement deserves a fact check, or an error has been made with a published fact check
Contact Us: [email protected]
Fact Check
India has announced to make Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) Chairman Rabi Lamichhane the new Prime Minister of Nepal.
No, India hasn’t made such an announcement. The viral claim is false.
A video claiming that India has announced to appoint Rastriya Swatantra Party Chairman Rabi Lamichhane as the prime minister of Nepal is going viral on TikTok.
Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) Chairman Rabi Lamichhane completed a five-day visit to India from June 1 to June 5, 2026, at the invitation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Lamichhane was given a high-profile red carpet welcome in New Delhi during his visit to India.
Against this backdrop, TikTok user @trendingnepaltv posted a video carrying photos of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, RSP Chairman Rabi Lamichhane and Nepal’s Prime Minister Balendra Shah. Text superimposed on the video reads,”Balen government is going to fall less than 24 hours after Rabi Lamichhane went to India. India has declared to make Rabi Lamichhane the new prime minister of Nepal.”
The video posted on June 3 has garnered 523 likes, 29 users have shared it and 12 people have commented.
Newschecker found the claim to be exaggerated and false.
To check the veracity of the claim, Newschecker searched for news regarding the recent meeting between Rabi Lamichhane and Indian’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the former’s visit to India.
We found multiple news articles (See here, here & here) regarding Lamichhane’s meeting with PM Modi.
A news article, dated June 3, 2026, posted on Kathmandu Post online reported that Lamichhane held talks with Modi for over an hour in the presence of External Affairs Minister of India S Jaishankar, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, among others. According to media reports, PM Modi and Chairman Rabi agreed to chart a new course in Nepal-India relations in a changed political context.
However, we did not find any hint of assurance from Modi’s side to make way for appointing Rabi Lamichhane as the new Prime Minister of Nepal.
In a post on his social media (X), Modi wrote, “Delighted to meet chairman of RSP Rabi Lamichhane, I fully share his desire to work closely together for a shared and prosperous future. Nepal is a priority partner under our Neighbourhood First policy and we look forward to collaborating with the new government to elevate the special and multifaceted relationship between our two countries to greater heights.”
In fact, it is the call of Rastriya Swatantra Party, which has garnered almost two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives, to choose its prime ministerial candidate. The party had contested the snap elections in March presenting Balendra Shah as its prime ministerial candidate.
Thus, our findings clearly indicate that the claim made by the viral video is exaggerated and could not be substantiated from any source.
No, India has not declared to make Rabi Lamichhane as the new prime minister of Nepal. The viral claim is exaggerated, and thus false.
Sources
Kathmandu Post, June 3, 2024
Narendra Modi /X, June 3, 2024
Newsonair, June 3, 2026
Annapurna Express , June 5, 2026
Nepali Times, June, 2026
False
Sanjeeb Phuyal
June 11, 2026
Sanjeeb Phuyal
June 4, 2026
Sanjeeb Phuyal
May 27, 2026
