Kathmandu, Nepal — Mohan Prasad Oli, the father of Communist Party of Nepal (UML) Chairman and former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, died on Friday morning at the age of 97.
Family members said his health had been declining due to age-related complications. After his condition worsened early Friday, he was taken to the Nepal–Korea Friendship Municipality Hospital in Gatthaghar, where doctors declared him dead shortly after arrival.
His body has been kept at the hospital premises to allow relatives and well-wishers to pay their final respects. The cremation is scheduled to take place at Aryaghat in the Pashupatinath temple complex in Kathmandu at 11:30 a.m. on Friday.
A Life Marked by Simplicity and Wit
Despite his advanced age, Mohan Prasad Oli had remained relatively active until recent months. KP Sharma Oli would sometimes joke about his father’s energy, saying that his father had only recently started to look old.
Mohan Prasad Oli was known for his sociable personality and sharp conversational skills. Neighbors and acquaintances often described him as witty and quick with proverbs and humorous remarks.
He also had a long-standing interest in astrology and would occasionally share interpretations of planetary positions and horoscopes with people who visited him. In later years, however, he gradually stepped away from such activities as his health declined.
Life in Jhapa and Years in Kathmandu
For most of his life, he lived in his hometown in Jhapa district in eastern Nepal. Deeply connected to rural life, he initially had little interest in staying in Kathmandu. His visits to the capital increased only after his son KP Sharma Oli became prime minister.
When Nepal promulgated its constitution in 2015 and KP Sharma Oli became prime minister for the first time, Mohan Prasad Oli spent some time at the official prime ministerial residence in Baluwatar. He later recalled the experience as a unique moment when father and son were living together at the residence during Oli’s tenure.
Before that period, he mainly lived in Jhapa and stayed alternately with his children. In recent years, as he grew older and required more care, he spent more time living with his daughter.
Memories of Struggle and Life Lessons
Mohan Prasad Oli often reflected on the hardships he had experienced in life. He would recount incidents from the past, including the loss of family land due to flooding and the economic struggles that followed.
Through such experiences, he frequently advised others to remain humble during times of prosperity and patient during hardship.
KP Sharma Oli’s own childhood was marked by difficulties. After losing his mother at a young age, much of his early life was spent away from home. His education and later political involvement kept him separated from his family for long periods.
As KP Sharma Oli rose in national politics, however, father and son began meeting and speaking more frequently.
Throughout his life, Mohan Prasad Oli was known for accepting life’s changes with calmness. He often said that people inevitably face both success and hardship, and therefore should neither become arrogant in good times nor discouraged in difficult moments.
His death marks the passing of a man whose long life reflected the struggles and resilience of an older generation in Nepal.
