Kathmandu — Nepal’s President and Supreme Commander of the Army, Ram Chandra Paudel, is reportedly displeased with former Chief Justice Sushila Karki and controversial medical entrepreneur Durga Prasai, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The discontent with Karki stems from her recent interview with Indian media, where she commented on Nepal’s political instability and ongoing constitutional crisis. Sources say the President’s office viewed this as an inappropriate step that internationalized sensitive domestic issues and risked amplifying Nepal’s internal disputes on a foreign platform.

Prasai, on the other hand, drew ire for publicly posting on Facebook a photograph taken with Army Chief Ashokraj Sigdel. The picture prominently featured a portrait of Nepal’s unifier King Prithvi Narayan Shah in the background, which India’s India Today headlined with the provocative question: “Hindu king’s portrait behind Nepal Army chief. Is there a message?” The controversy escalated as Prasai has also continued to voice highly charged and controversial political views through social media.

According to the same sources, not only President Paudel but the Nepal Army institutionally also regards such activities as harmful to its image. The Army has repeatedly stressed in public statements that it views actions undermining its institutional credibility as unacceptable.

These developments add new dimensions to Nepal’s fragile political climate, where both political and non-political actors are playing increasingly visible—and contentious—roles. How these rifts between the country’s leadership and influential public figures might shape the ongoing political process remains an open question.