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Here’s how political leaders are coping with the oil crisis

Kp Oli, Prachanda, Dauba and chitra Bdr Kc

Online Khabar

Kathmandu, October 13. The covert Indian blockade has not affected political leaders much, Online Khabar has found.

Most of the leaders that Online Khabar contacted have cooking gas stocks that will last at least 15 days. They have increased the use of electricity to save gas. Getting fuel for their vehicles is no problem.

Newly-elected Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is preparing to shift to PM’s Official Residence in Baluwatar from his private residence in Balkot. Getting oil will be no problem for Oli in Baluwatar.

In his Balkot residence, a cooking gas cylinder is in use, while other cylinders are empty, according to Oli’s assistant Rajesh Bajracharya. That’s okay. The Oli household relies on electric appliances like rice cooker to cope with the fuel crisis. Bajracharya says security personnel deployed at Oli residence have started using firewood.

And Oli does not have to worry about fuel shortage. “We don’t have to worry about oil. The security (apparatus) takes care of that,” says Bajracharya.

The Prachanda household is also in a comfortable position, despite the crisis. The cooking gas stove is very much on there. “No worries for coming 15-16 days,” says Prachanda’s personal secretary Chudamani Khadka when inquired about the cooking gas supply situation.

We are cutting down on the use of gas, to the extent possible,” he says, adding, “This does not mean we are reducing intake of food.” Whenever there’s electricity, we use electric appliances, Khadka says.

Prachanda does not have to leave Kathmandu these days. If he has to, oil is no problem, Khadka says.

The crisis has not affected Nepali Congress senior leader Sher Bahadur Deuba, either.

At his residence in Budhanilkantha, consumption of electricity has gone up after the crisis began.

Deuba’s aide Bhanu Deuba says the household uses electricity to cook food, whenever possible. The household has gas stock that will last 15 days, says the aide.

Suppliers pledged to provide cooking gas, but to no avail. The stock of gas will not be enough for Dashain, he says.

Refueling is no problem for the former prime minister, though. Bhanu says, “We are getting diesel, though supply is not as smooth as it used to be.”

However, the household of former UCPN-Maoist leader Baburam Bhattarai is in a crisis: It is about to run out of cooking gas. Bhattarai’s aide Bishwodeep Pandey says he searched for cooking gas for 10 days, to no avail. The looming shortage has forced us to economise on the use of gas.

Pandey says they are getting oil for their vehicles, somehow. Pandey says he often gets calls from people, who ask him to use sources to supply oil.

In the residence of CPN-Maoist Chair Mohan Baidhya, a cooking gas cylinder has been going strong, still.

Of the two cylinders, one has been lying empty for quite some time. Baidhya aide Arun Upadhyay says the cylinder in use will run out of gas in about 15 days. In the Baidhya household, a gas cylinder lasts about a month. After the blockade, Baidhya has not embarked on longer trips, meaning the use of petroleum products has gone down. We have managed oil for short travels, Upadhyay says.

The household of UCPN-Maoist leader Agni Sapkota does not have much to worry. Luckily, Sapkota had bought a gas cylinder before the blockade. The six-member household can rely on it for some days. During Dashain, we will go home, so there’s no problem, says Dipak Sapkota, the Maoist leader’s son. What’s more, they took are using electric appliances like rice cooker, heater and boiler to reduce the use of gas.

In view of the shortage of oil, Maoist leader Sapkota hardly uses private vehicles these days. He walks short distance. If he has to take a long journey, the Maoist leader asks for lift.

UML leader Rabindra Adhikari says the difficulties leaders are facing are nothing compared to hardships that people are facing. The Adhikari household has been using rice cooker for long. “Whenever possible, we use rice cooker. We are economising when it comes to preparing food,” Adhikari says.

Lift please

Rastriya Janamorcha leader Chitra Bahadur KC has become an expert of sorts, when it comes to asking for lift. He has no option, with means of mass transport overcrowded.

KC reached Bhairahawa on Tuesday. Talking to Online Khabar over the phone, he said: “Half of the journey I travelled in a microbus. I completed the other half asking for lift.”

In Kathmandu, there’s no alternative to asking for lift, he says, referring to overcrowded means of transport.

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