PM Balen travels to Mustang on private trip, skips key RSP meeting

Kathmandu, August 21, 2026 — Prime Minister Balendra Shah travelled by road from Kathmandu to Pokhara on Friday and is set to continue to Mustang on what the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers has described as a private visit.

Shah’s unexpected departure came as the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) was holding a key Central Committee meeting at its headquarters in Banasthali, Kathmandu. The meeting is discussing more than a dozen organisational and policy issues, including criteria for selecting candidates for upcoming local elections, organisational appointments and the proposed policy of the “Right to Recall.”

Shah, who serves as a senior leader and parliamentary party leader of the RSP following its merger, did not attend the meeting.

The prime minister travelled in an official vehicle through Dhading towards Pokhara. According to the reported itinerary, he is expected to spend Friday night at a resort in the Annapurna region of Kaski before proceeding to Mustang.

The unannounced journey prompted questions about security coordination. Officials in Kaski and Mustang said they had not received prior information from the Ministry of Home Affairs or the Prime Minister’s Office about security arrangements for the prime minister’s visit.

Local RSP representatives and members of Shah’s secretariat also did not provide details about the purpose of the trip or indicate that formal instructions had been issued concerning his travel.

The Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers later clarified that the Mustang trip was private.

Responding to journalists during the office’s regular press briefing on Friday, spokesperson Hemraj Aryal said there was no official programme associated with the visit.

“The Honourable's visit is private. If you need to understand further, you can inquire with his secretariat,” Aryal said.

Shah reached Pokhara from Kathmandu by road on Friday and is expected to travel onward to Mustang.