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
Deposed King Gyanedra Shah has declared to take over the state power.
Fact
No, the viral video is misleading.
At a time when pro-monarchist forces have been staging demonstrations demanding restoration of monarchy in the country, a video claiming that former King Gyanendra Shah has announced to take over state power is going viral on TikTok.
Nepal held its first ever Constituent Assembly election on April 10, 2008. The newly elected Constituent Assembly declared Nepal a Federal Democratic Republic, abolishing the centuries-old institution of monarchy. After former King Gyanendra Shah was deposed he was forced to vacate the and he At present, Nepal has a President as Head of State and a Prime Minister heading the Government.
Against this backdrop, TikTok user @sairongthakuri posted a video carrying a long text and an image of deposed king Gyanendra Shah. Text superimposed on the video reads, “His majesty King has declared that he will formally take the reins of the nation. As part of inside preparations for agitation, talks are being held with the country’s security bodies, intelligentsia. The king’s come-back decision is made to control the deteriorating situation of the country as currently India, China and the US are neutral towards Nepal. As part of the programme, the King will be taken inside Narayanhiti on April 24 along with a band of music. In addition, Nepal will be declared a Hindu state, federalism and republic will be scrapped and the constitution of 1990 will be reinstated.” The long text further reads, “As part of the first agitation, the government will be given a one-week ultimatum to give up the state power. If the reigning government fails to hand over the power within that time, a huge mass protest will be organised. That’s why all the patriotic people and campaigners are urged to stay ready. The movement should be launched by forming a group of 5000 people from each district. In the same manner, all chief district officers will be given memoranda on March 14. “
The video posted on February 25 has garnered 35.3k likes, 1908 users have shared it and 2225 users have commented on it.
Newschecker found the claim to be misleading.
Fact Check /Verification
To check the veracity of the claim, Newschecker looked up news reports about the former King making such a declaration. However, we didn’t find any relevant results.
The only news we found about the pro-monarchist protest is an article, dated March 1, 2025, posted on the website of Avenues TV online. The article reported that a pro-monarchy group named Shahi Yuba Shakti staged a rally from Samakhushi to Narayanhiti Museum, former residence and royal palace of Nepal’s reigning monarch, in Kathmandu on March 1. Similarly, a rally was organised at Basantapur Kathmandu on March 1 by the World Hindu Federation demanding reinstatement of monarchy in the country.
We also found a Facebook reel of a pro-monarchist rally organised in Kathmandu on March 1.
In his democracy day message on February 19, deposed King Gyanendra Shah had sought public support for progress of the country, underlining the need to protect national unity and identity.
We then reached out to Gyanendra Shah’s press secretary, Phaniraj Pathak, who said that the former King had not made such an announcement. “The viral claim is fake,” Pathak said.
Thus, our findings clearly indicated that the claim made in the viral video is misleading.
Conclusion
No, deposed King Gyanendra Shah has not declared that he will take over the state power. The viral video is being shared against the backdrop of frequent pro-monarchy protests in various places of the country.
Result: False
Sources
Avenues Khabar, March 2, 2025
BBC Nepali, Feb 25, 2025
My Republica, February 19, 2025
Facebook Reel
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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.
