A remark by Home Minister Sudan Gurung telling a resident to “take back your vote” has gone viral on social media after a video of the exchange circulated online.

The incident took place on Friday when Gurung was visiting Gorkha, the district he represents in the House of Representatives after winning the Gorkha-1 constituency in the March parliamentary election. He travelled from Arughat to Namjung, meeting voters along the way, and reached Namjung in the evening. Local supporters of the Rastriya Swatantra Party, which Gurung represents, had arranged a meeting at the ward office.

During the meeting, a resident reminded Gurung of a promise he had made during the election campaign to establish a laboratory at the Namjung health post.

The resident, Khopendra Prasad Lamichhane, a ward-level secretary of the RSP, said Gurung had also contacted the health ministry secretary about the proposed laboratory.

“He spoke about it during the election and even called the health ministry secretary,” Lamichhane said. “But there is no mention of the laboratory in the budget, and it is not on the provincial list either.”

Lamichhane said residents had continued to remind each other of Gurung’s campaign promise.

“People in the village keep saying that Sudan had promised to do it,” he said.

Responding to Lamichhane, Gurung initially said it was not possible to include every proposed project in the government’s budget documents. He then referred to the short time his government had been in office.

“It has only been four months, and the budget has only started being implemented from July 17,” Gurung said. “You can’t change everything in four months. Take your vote back.”

A clip of Gurung’s comment, particularly the reference to taking back the vote, was widely shared on social media.

Lamichhane said he was surprised that the exchange had attracted so much attention.

He told Kantipur that he had only reminded Gurung of his election promise and that the minister had again assured him that the laboratory would be established.

“I reminded him about the election promise. He also said that the laboratory would be established and that he would do it,” Lamichhane said. “He said ‘take back your vote’ in a joking manner, but one phrase from what he said has now become the focus of discussion.”

Lamichhane said Gurung had also asked him to be patient.

“He is a senior person, so what he said became a big issue,” he said. “It was said jokingly in a casual conversation, with laughter. I don’t know how it was leaked, but now everyone is talking about it.”