Kathmandu, March 25 -- By sacking the person that many Nepalis credit for ending prolonged daily power cuts, the coalition led by Prime Minister KP Oli has added fuel to the fire as anti-government forces plan protests in the coming weeks.

A Cabinet meeting on Monday decided to replace the Executive Director of the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) Kulman Ghising with Hitendra Dev Shakya.

There is a sense of deja vu since both men led the NEA in previous stints. Ghising had been NEA chief in 2016 and again in 2021, when he had replaced Shakya. Ghising is backed by Pushpa Kamal Dahal of the Maoist Centre, which is now in the opposition, and Shakya is regarded as being close to Oli's UML.

Relations between Ghising and Energy Minister Dip...