Although the government has decided that Kathmandu will not be hosting the 2019 International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards, the decision did not come in response to resounding public and political discontent. Instead, the IIFA awards became a pawn in the ongoing power struggle within the ruling party, according to multiple leaders who spoke to the Post.

Deepak Raj Joshi, chief executive officer of Nepal Tourism Board, confirmed that the IIFA awards would not be held in Kathmandu, a day after the Parliament’s International Relations Committee instructed the government to cancel its plans to host Bollywood’s annual awards extravaganza.

But a section of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) believes that the decision over the international event was influenced directly by growing rifts within the party.

“The fact that more than one key leader in the party publicly criticised the government’s plans to host the event is a manifestation of the growing division in the party,” one of the prime minister’s close advisers told the Post.

When the Tourism Board’s plan was first announced on Friday, senior ruling party leader Bhim Rawal was the first to criticise the event, both in person and on social media. Rawal raised questions about why the government was spending so much money on a Bollywood event under the guise of promoting tourism. Rawal even demanded a meeting of the party’s standing committee to discuss the issue.

Then, a host of other ruling party leaders, like Narayan Kaji Shrestha, Agni Sapkota, and Dev Gurung followed suit. Most of those having grievances were former Maoists. Among senior leaders, only Madhav Kumar Nepal and Rawal of the former CPN-UML spoke out publicly against the event.

Oli’s aides said that they were surprised by the volume of criticism and the language used by the House committee on Tuesday. Despite the fact that the chairperson of the committee, Pavitra Niraula, is supposed to be a supporter of Oli, she took a decision against the government’s ambitious plan.

“We are really surprised to see the directive by the House committee that states that holding the IIFA event is ‘against Nepal’s sovereignty, independence and prestige, and in totality, against Nepali cultural and national interest’,” another close aide to the prime minister said. Both officials agreed to be interviewed on condition of anonymity because they weren’t allowed to speak with the media.

Before the House committee made its decision, ruling party leader Sapkota became emotional, saying how the holding of the awards would infringe on Nepal’s “sovereignty, independence and prestige”, words that were directly quoted in the committee’s directive to the government.

“We had expected that the House committee would ask the government to renegotiate with Wizcraft, but it asked the government to cancel the event altogether,” the aide said.

Sources in the Oli camp believe that NCP Co-chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal could have had something to do with the cancellation of the awards, especially as he had met with Oli and expressed reservations over hosting the event. Dahal may have employed some lawmakers to oppose the function, party insiders say.

Oli loyalists believe that a successful hosting of the IIFA awards would have greatly benefited the prime minister, who would have utilised the platform to appear on stage, hand out awards and profess closer ties to India.

“Since Dahal does not want Oli catapulted to the centre stage, he maneuvered party leaders to move against Oli,” one party leader who has close relations with the prime minister told the Post.

While there are many in the ruling party who see Dahal behind the cancellation of the event, others believe that the decision came about simply because the Oli government has developed a habit of acting unilaterally.

“The fiasco behind the IIFA awards is a result of not holding consultations with others,” said Bishnu Rijal, a central committee member. “This has not happened for the first time. The government had a similar approach to other controversial ideas in the past, too.”

The government, meanwhile, had been scrambling to justify the hosting of the awards. On Sunday, Gokul Baskota, minister for communications and information technology, said the government would not be spending a single paisa from the state coffers. But when the government’s agreement with Wizcraft International, the company organising the IIFA awards, was made public, the government finally backtracked.

The agreement displayed how the government would have to bear all of the guests’ travel expenses, accommodation and venue charges, in addition to Rs500 million in direct payment. The ceremony was scheduled to be held at the Nepal Army headquarters in Kathmandu on August 30 but as of now, all plans have been scuppered.