<figure><img width="871" height="657" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110111152/636cd82a9c7e80680e092e2ajpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Illustration: SUBHAS RAI/NEPALI TIMES ARCHIVES</figcaption></figure>There has been a lot of speculative analysis this week about the winners and losers in Nepal’s latest political upheaval, after the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-takes-1-step-forward-2-steps-back/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-takes-1-step-forward-2-steps-back/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1615441393580000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEBODxWrlYxavSW1mb4nTIQnSWhow">decision on 7 March by the Supreme Court</a> that annulled the unification of the incumbent Nepal Communist Party (NCP).
Ruling on a petition that the party name was already registered, the Bench went beyond what was demanded to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/no-winners-in-latest-nepal-political-twist/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/no-winners-in-latest-nepal-political-twist/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1615441393580000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFA9lKBadTPxClyS2Q2IZtbqCM4xQ">reinstate the NCP’s two constituent parties</a>: the UML led by K P Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s Maoist Centre.
Ever since 2018, the country has been forced to pay the price for the inability of these two leaders to overcome their oversized egos. Nepal’s policy-making and development ground to a halt as the party and government got mired in intrigue and back-stabbing between the triumvirate of Oli, Dahal and Madhav Kumar Nepal.
Then, the Covid-19 crisis struck and Singha Darbar was too distracted to launch an effective response in time. The leaders were busy at their residences in Baluwatar, Khumaltar and Balkot in back-room wheeling and dealing.
Increasingly isolated, and fighting a rear-guard action, Prime Minister Oli <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepalis-outraged-by-pm-oli-move/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepalis-outraged-by-pm-oli-move/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1615441393580000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGt3yu1ylZg8P2ZS692_FLF9owxOg">dissolved the Lower House </a>on 20 December just before the Dahal faction could register a no-confidence vote. When the Supreme Court restored the House on 23 February, there was great jubilation, with Dahal and Nepal <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/calm-before-another-storm-in-nepal/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/calm-before-another-storm-in-nepal/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1615441393580000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGZhGCDgiLR1lQwdpoErvODvGXB2A">feeding each other ladoo</a> in front of cheering cadre.
That celebration turned out to be premature because it looks like Oli had another trick up his sleeves. Sunday’s decision effectively dismantled the NCP and bifurcated it once more between the UML and the Maoists.  
If it is indeed true that <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/you-stab-my-back-i-stab-yours/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/you-stab-my-back-i-stab-yours/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1615441393580000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFRWCGtRoTgwBYmPcNl98vgmLxzKA">Oli had masterminded this all along</a>, then he is even more of a schemer than we had given him credit for. That is not necessarily good for the rule of law since it means unacceptable executive interference in the judiciary. 
The general conclusion is that Oli had nothing left to lose, and was willing to dissolve Parliament and split the party to prevent his two nemeses from gaining control of the NCP chair and prime ministership — even if it meant sacrificing his leadership of government.
As someone said this week, Oli is playing chess and Dahal is playing checkers. The coming weeks will show how the party <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/parliamentary-arithmetics/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/parliamentary-arithmetics/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1615441393580000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEMqxOiytnWcq053Om0OMguoEYsbg">numbers in Parliament</a> will play out in the formation of the next government. Both the UML and the Maoists are now courting the Nepali Congress (NC) and the Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP) to obtain the total 135 in the current 270-member Lower House.
The UML with 121 MPs will just need the NC’s 63 seats to cobble together a coalition, whereas the Maoists with 53 members will require both the NC and the JSP’s 34 to do so. All week, the two parties have been wooing the NC’s Sher Bahadur Deuba and JSP leaders, with Dahal more interested for now in unseating Oli in a no-confidence vote than in forming a government. 
All this takes us back to the bad old days of cyclical coalitions of the late 1990s and the early 2010s when the functions of government were paralysed by short-term politicking — exactly the kind of instability the 2015 Constitution was supposed to put a stop to.
Hopes that the unification of the NCP in 2018 would bring stability and put Nepal on the track to growth have also been dashed. The country has now gone back three years. To be sure, the UML and the Maoists had never really united and it remained ideologically polarised between जबज and जन युद्द (People’s Multiparty Democracy vs People’s War). 
True to the dictum that a Communist party regards the faction immediately to the right of it as a greater enemy than an <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/opium-of-the-masters/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/opium-of-the-masters/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1615441393580000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEiijHAUvZnOZmG1U2FJJ6N32uHKQ">extreme rightwing party</a>, both factions distrusted each other more than the NC. As he got more cornered, Oli was openly <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/k-p-oli-rams-it-home/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/k-p-oli-rams-it-home/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1615441393580000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFP8QkFGqrRmuWQmzNc_ChN1DxqIA">flirting with the Hindu right</a>.
The question now is which serial prime minister will be the new prime minister. Not that it matters much, these are all tried, tested and failed leaders who have had multiple chances in the past decades to prove their statesmanship.
The best-case scenario would be if the current political crisis could be turned into an opportunity by the four main parties to skip a generation and elevate a new crop of untainted younger leaders with fresh blood and energy. 
But that may be wishful thinking. We are once more seriously underestimating the egos and ambition of these superannuated septuagenarians.

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It’s broke, fix it

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111011114/636ccd149c7e80680e08bc58jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/><figcaption>Prime Minister K P Oli visited Singha Darbar in nearly a year when he inaugurated the earthquake-damaged secretariat building on 15 February. Most of his Cabinet colleagues are also AWOL, and busy planning pro-Oli political rallies.</figcaption></figure>When Prime Minister K P Oli set foot in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/inside-story-of-nepals-rana-dynasty/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Singha Darbar</a> on 15 February to inaugurate the Cabinet office rebuilt after the earthquake, it had been nearly a year since he had been to the seat of government.In the courtyard of the palace first <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/inside-story-of-nepals-rana-dynasty/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">built by Chandra Shumshere Rana 100 years ago</a>, he gave a two-hour speech highlighting his government’s achievements. Then he quickly drove back to his residence in Baluwatar.Ostensibly, the prime minister stopped working out of his secretariat at Singha Darbar because his second <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/prime-ministers-health-condition-under-wraps/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">kidney transplant</a> in March 2020 made him vulnerable to coronavirus infection.He did visit Singha Darbar briefly in April last year when he addressed the Non-Aligned Movement Conference from the Action Room of his office.But ever since he <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/i-had-no-other-option-pm-oli/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">dissolved the Lower House</a> on 20 December and announced snap polls for April and May, Prime Minister Oli has been behaving as if he is on the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/a-kathmandu-spring/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">election campaign trail</a>. His public appearances have been limited to addressing street rallies, where he has lashed out at estranged Nepali Communist Party (NCP) co-chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal.It is not just the prime minister who is AWOL from Singha Darbar. His Cabinet ministers also seem busy moonlighting. Finance Minister Bishnu Poudel, Minister of Industry Lekhraj Bhatta, Energy Minister Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, Education Minister Krishna Gopal Shrestha, and Law Minister Lilanath Shrestha have all been busy with <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/muscle-vs-muscle-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">firefighting within the NCP</a>’s instead of attending to the country’s problems.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111011114/636ccd189c7e80680e08bc59jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="875"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>A secretary at Singha Darbar admitted to Nepali Times that ministers are rarely available for meetings at their ministries because they are too busy defending Oli from his <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/oli-vs-dahal-1-upmanship/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">rivals in the NCP</a>.“Prioritising internal party matters and a lack of government accountability poses a serious challenge to effective and impactful governance,” says former government secretary Khemraj Nepal.The half-yearly review of the current budget released by the Ministry of Finance last week shows that only 14% of the capital expenditure allocated by the government for development (Rs50.8 billion out of Rs353 billion) had been spent as of December. This is less than what was spent during the first six months of the previous year.Most development projects have also not met their spending targets. Figures show only Rs14 billion out of the Rs92 billion allocated to speed up the construction of 25 infrastructure projects had been utilised. Indeed, the Action Room set up at the Prime Minister's Office in Singha Darbar to accelerate national pride projects has not seen much action in Oli’s absence.This means an economy already stagnant due to the pandemic is <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/instability-to-cost-nepal-dear-in-2021/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">lagging behind in recovery</a> because development projects are languishing due to government indifference.Oli had pledged Rs300 million from government coffers to add a golden सुनको जलहरी pendant at Pashupatinath during his controversial visit to the temple in January. His decision, an impulsive response to the request by the Pashupati Area Development Fund, was made without prior discussion with advisers.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111011114/636ccd1c9c7e80680e08bc5ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>This is perhaps one of the few activities of the government that is actually being fast-tracked so the inner sanctum of the temple has the expensive gold pendant in time for <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/maha-shivaratri/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Shivaratri</a> on 11 March.Pashupati was not the first time Oli dropped a surprise. A former secretary says the prime minister’s habit of making ad hoc spur of the moment decisions from Baluwatar without consulting experts is wasteful. Only Oli’s adviser and confidante Bishnu Rimal is said to have the prime minister’s ear on most matters.Giriraj Mani Pokhrel, a former minister in the Oli administration, recalls many such impulsive decisions at Cabinet meetings that went against the government’s own strategy.Even former Finance Minister Yuvraj Khatiwada, a workaholic who prefers to keep strict office hours, has criticised the ‘out-of-office’ culture of the prime minister and his Cabinet colleagues.Another senior government official told Nepali Times said the state machinery was in complete disarray due to the prime minister’s <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/zero-sum-game-for-nepals-ruling-communists/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">lackadaisical attitude towards governance</a>. Not only has Oli been out of touch with his ministers, but the ministers are also not discussing important issues with their secretaries, thus disrupting the entire chain of communication within Singha Darbar."Because the PMO in Baluwatar functions as a parallel seat of government, morale is very low in Singha Darbar,” the official says.Former Finance Secretary Shantaraj Subedi says ministers have the responsibility of carrying through the government’s programs, managing the budget and making policy decisions. "If the minister does not show up, and does not take his work seriously, there will be no result,” Subedi says.Most ministers these days do not even bother to come to Singha Darbar. They either work from their residences, or are attending <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/back-in-the-streets/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">political rallies</a> in support of the prime minister, or planning them with their cronies.

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Nepal's empty corridors of power

<img width="675" height="849" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191116/636bee754b0ad905ca02ef48jpeg.jpg" alt=""/>It was a hazy winter afternoon  when without warning at exactly 1PM, soldiers appeared on the streets of Kathmandu. Singha Darbar was cordoned off. Politicians, including Prime Minister B P Koirala who had been elected a year-and-half previously, were picked up simultaneously from their homes or offices, and hauled off to prison.   On Tuesday, 15 December it will be exactly 60 years since that fateful day which would determine the course of Nepal’s history for decades. King Mahendra and Prime Minister BP Koirala met at the palace for dinner a few days before the putsch. The King had just returned from a four-month trip to Japan, the United States and UK, and top secret plans were already in place for the coup d'état. Years later, Koirala related how towards the end of that meal, Mahendra (wearing trademark shades even though it was dark inside the room) gestured to Queen Ratna to leave and told him: “There cannot be two lions in a cage.”BP writes in his memoir that he had a ‘love hate’ relationship with Mahendra, who appreciated his work ethic, but was increasingly jealous of his popularity. The King’s aversion to political parties was well known, zamindars hated BP’s new land reform bill, and Mahendra sensed that Nehru’s India and Mao’s China, for different reasons, could live with a coup, as long as it did not make Nepal unstable.So, on पुस १, २०१७ (first day of the month of Pous 2017) the King made his move. In a speech he accused the Nepali Congress government of “failure to maintain law and order, being anti-national, corrupt and unaccountable”. The Swiss Ambassador was visiting Kathmandu from New Delhi on 15 December, and wrote a long cable to Berne about how BP Koirala had earlier talked about the difficulty of maintaining Nepal’s neutrality amidst Cold War tensions.US Ambassador Henry E Stebbins had met King Mahendra on 9 December in which he was given no hints of what he was planning, even though preparations must have been at an advanced stage. After the coup, Stebbins wrote to President Eisenhower: ‘…we feel that the King’s motives in taking the precipitate action he did were guided less by the issues of corruption and Communism than by a growing fear that his own personal position and prestige were dwindling and that if he did not act soon, it might be too late . . . the real motive behind the move was the preservation of the monarchy and the Shah dynasty in its absolute form.’However, just as Mahendra reckoned, Nepal’s two giant neighbours went along. China’s annexation of Tibet had spooked the Indians and Americans, and the British were focused on continued Gurkha recruitment. In fact, Queen Elizabeth was in Kathmandu on a royal visit within two months of the coup, and even went tiger hunting in Chitwan. History repeats itself repeatedly in Nepal. In 2005, King Gyanendra staged a carbon copy royal-military coup. Like his father and Stebbins, Gyanendra hoodwinked British Ambassador Keith Bloomfield into thinking that a coup was the last thing on his mind. Gyanendra’s speech on 1 February 2005 was identical to Mahendra’s in 1960. The son followed his father’s footsteps. On the 60th anniversary of पुस १ Nepal comes another full circle as supporters of a return to a Hindu monarchy exploit the political disarray, infighting, governance failure and corruption, to march on the streets demanding the secular republican constitution be scrapped. Some of the geopolitical dynamics of the Cold War in 1960 are also playing out again as Washington and New Delhi align against Beijing. Hindutva politics  in India may also be pushing the pendulum back to the right in Nepal. Tune in to Tom Robertson's article on Nepali Times Weekend Longreads on Saturday 12 December with declassified papers with new revelations about the US response to King Mahendra's coup.

Kunda Dixit

‘Putsch Ek’

<img width="675" height="849" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181144/636be7739c7e80680e0877ffjpeg.jpg" alt=""/>It was a hazy winter afternoon  when without warning at exactly 1PM, soldiers appeared on the streets of Kathmandu. Singha Darbar was cordoned off. Politicians, including Prime Minister B P Koirala who had been elected a year-and-half previously, were picked up simultaneously from their homes or offices, and hauled off to prison.   On Tuesday, 15 December it will be exactly 60 years since that fateful day which would determine the course of Nepal’s history for decades. King Mahendra and Prime Minister BP Koirala met at the palace for dinner a few days before the putsch. The King had just returned from a four-month trip to Japan, the United States and UK, and top secret plans were already in place for the coup d'état. Years later, Koirala related how towards the end of that meal, Mahendra (wearing trademark shades even though it was dark inside the room) gestured to Queen Ratna to leave and told him: “There cannot be two lions in a cage.”BP writes in his memoir that he had a ‘love hate’ relationship with Mahendra, who appreciated his work ethic, but was increasingly jealous of his popularity. The King’s aversion to political parties was well known, zamindars hated BP’s new land reform bill, and Mahendra sensed that Nehru’s India and Mao’s China, for different reasons, could live with a coup, as long as it did not make Nepal unstable.So, on पुस १, २०१७ (first day of the month of Pous 2017) the King made his move. In a speech he accused the Nepali Congress government of “failure to maintain law and order, being anti-national, corrupt and unaccountable”. The Swiss Ambassador was visiting Kathmandu from New Delhi on 15 December, and wrote a long cable to Berne about how BP Koirala had earlier talked about the difficulty of maintaining Nepal’s neutrality amidst Cold War tensions.US Ambassador Henry E Stebbins had met King Mahendra on 9 December in which he was given no hints of what he was planning, even though preparations must have been at an advanced stage. After the coup, Stebbins wrote to President Eisenhower: ‘…we feel that the King’s motives in taking the precipitate action he did were guided less by the issues of corruption and Communism than by a growing fear that his own personal position and prestige were dwindling and that if he did not act soon, it might be too late . . . the real motive behind the move was the preservation of the monarchy and the Shah dynasty in its absolute form.’However, just as Mahendra reckoned, Nepal’s two giant neighbours went along. China’s annexation of Tibet had spooked the Indians and Americans, and the British were focused on continued Gurkha recruitment. In fact, Queen Elizabeth was in Kathmandu on a royal visit within two months of the coup, and even went tiger hunting in Chitwan. History repeats itself repeatedly in Nepal. In 2005, King Gyanendra staged a carbon copy royal-military coup. Like his father and Stebbins, Gyanendra hoodwinked British Ambassador Keith Bloomfield into thinking that a coup was the last thing on his mind. Gyanendra’s speech on 1 February 2005 was identical to Mahendra’s in 1960. The son followed his father’s footsteps. On the 60th anniversary of पुस १ Nepal comes another full circle as supporters of a return to a Hindu monarchy exploit the political disarray, infighting, governance failure and corruption, to march on the streets demanding the secular republican constitution be scrapped. Some of the geopolitical dynamics of the Cold War in 1960 are also playing out again as Washington and New Delhi align against Beijing. Hindutva politics  in India may also be pushing the pendulum back to the right in Nepal. Tune in to Tom Robertson's article on Nepali Times Weekend Longreads on Saturday 12 December with declassified papers with new revelations about the US response to King Mahendra's coup.

Inside story of Nepal’s Rana dynasty

<img width="640" height="774" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110714118/636903929c7e80680e037ccejpeg.jpg" alt=""/>Bharat Shumsher was born at <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/the-rana-reign-a-recap-of-history,3751">Singha Durbar</a> 90 years ago, the first great grandson of Prime Minister Chandra Shumsher Rana. The birth of a future democracy warrior was celebrated by Nepal’s absolutist rulers as a day of national rejoicing.When in 1929 Chandra died and the family moved to Baber Mahal, Bharat was still a toddler. He grew up in the comforts of the palaces, but the luxuries of most of the Rana households were curtailed by Baber Shumsher: he believed in austerity and disciplined life style.‘Leadership’ came naturally to Bharat and he was the domineering figure among his two sisters and four brothers – one of them me. Somehow, ‘rebellion’ was instilled early in him against the on going social mores and lifestyle, including religious rites.  There was a small shrine of Bhimsen in the palace grounds venerated by all. Bharat used to hurl objects at it, saying if this be Bhimsen, I am Arjun.Later in life he wrote:‘The head of the family had unquestionable authority over property and the household, and often exercised these powers arbitrarily. We grew up under the theory of ‘spare the rod and spoil the child’. Everyone was compelled to observe and suffer through all the archaic rites and rituals, use cow urine or dung to purify oneself, accept injustice, discrimination and prejudice – unfortunately they still persist in society.’Bharat’s father Mrigendra strived to ensure the best possible education to his sons and daughters. Bharat was admitted to St Xavier’s’ College, Bombay. Once out of the stagnant air of a feudal society and authoritarian regime Bharat spread his wings, in the liberal and cosmopolitan environment of Bombay.Under a professor who happened to be a left leaning atheist, the angry young man of Baber Mahal turned into an eternal rebel. Bharat’s letter of commitment to B P Koirala’s call in 1946 for a united force of Nepalis to bring down the Rana regime, was the natural reaction of a rebel.Circumstances altered this course and he returned to Kathmandu with excellent grades in BA Honours. Prime Minister Mohan quickly persuaded him to join the government as Minister of Agriculture. He served in that capacity, not with great enthusiasm until the historical day of the fall of Rana oligarchy.For Bharat it was not the end but beginning of his illustrious political career. In 1952-53 he joined and then guided and inspired the Gorkha Dal, at that time scattered in several groups of  mainly Chetris from the Kaanth area, raged against the excesses of Brahman-Newar dominated Nepali Congress, with rare verve.In the general elections of 1958,the NC led by stalwarts such as BP Koirala, Subarna Shumsher, Ganeshman Singh and KP Bhattarai, with a proven record of long struggle against the Rana rulers scored a major victory with 74 seats in Parliament. Gorkha Dal secured 19 seats, as against four of the communist party and fewer of parties such as Praja Parishad led by Tanka Prasad Acharya and Ram Hari Joshi, the ‘living martyrs’.Bharat became the leader of opposition in Parliament. During 18 months, from May 1959 to December 1960 that this government was allowed to function, issues were debated fiercely at times but backed by sensible reasoning. The proceedings of the House was disrupted just one day and for a few hours.A common front was presented on matters of grave inter state issues. When Chinese troops intruded into Nepal’s territory in Mustang, fired on an unarmed police sub-post killing one officer, BP shared the concern with Bharat outside of Parliament and evolved a common strategy that led China to accept the mistake and pay a token compensation of Rs 50,000.Bharat stayed firmly by the side of BP Koirala when King Mahendra moved to dismiss the duly elected government through the military backed coup in December 1960. Arrested and jailed along with leaders of NC, he contrived to get released after about six months, and then, as was his plan, slipped away to India.In September 1961 he issued a public statement merging Gorkha Parishad into NC, to wage a common fight to restore democracy in Nepal. He was co-opted by Subarna Shumsher the acting Chairman into the ‘High Command’ of NC.In absence of BP, Bharat always sided with and led the wing within NC that opted for armed struggle against the King as against the conciliatory approach of Subarna. He was at the forefront of the two phases of insurgency and raids inside Nepali territory that NC carried out before BP advocated his policy of reconciliation ‘melmilap’ and with Ganeshman and other leaders, entered Nepal in December 1976 risking possible conviction for treason, and capital punishment. Bharat and Girija Koirala followed in April 1980.In May 1979 King Birendra announced a Referendum to decide between a multiparty democracy or ‘reformed’ Panchayat. The latter prevailed, with backing of the government and alleged large scale manipulation. BP felt that even in defeat the door for open canvassing and meetings with the people was now open and opted to accept the verdict of the referendum. Leaders including Ganeshman were reluctant, but  followed BP’s decision. Bharat was also convinced BP was right, and continued to actively support the party, moving between Calcutta and Kathmandu.BP’s death in July 1982 was followed by a smooth transition of leadership to Ganeshman as the Supreme commander and KP Bhattarai continuing as Acting President of the party. Bharat was close to Ganeshman personally, admired his courage and grit but found a great void in the intellectual content and commitment to the ‘social revolution’ that he shared with BP.Ganeshman’s contribution to the restoration of democracy in 1989, as undisputed leader Sarbamanya Neta, of NC and the newly formed United Marxist Leninists (UML), after 30 years of bitter struggle, is an unparalleled achievement. Bharat was a leading actor in that final round of struggle. He continued to visit Kathmandu after restoration of democracy and during the formation and promulgation of the new constitution under premiership of KP Bhattarai and his coalition government.He campaigned in many parts of the country during the parliamentary election of 1991. However thereafter he gradually moved out of national politics perhaps dismayed at the lack of sufficient interest of the party for a social ‘revolution’ against ‘injustice, discrimination, and prejudice’.In his last days, when he felt death approaching, he left a note for his family to follow: his body was not to be cremated but donated to a hospital, and his family not to perform any rites and customs associated with such occasions or advised by priests or friends.He had walked his talk even in death.Sagar Rana is the brother of Bharat ShumsherRana, who died this week in Kolkata, and the author of the book, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/the-rana-reign-a-recap-of-history,3751">Singha Darbar: Rise and Fall of the Rana Regime in Nepal</a>.

singha-darbar

It’s broke, fix it

Nepal's empty corridors of power

‘Putsch Ek’

‘Putsch Ek’

Inside story of Nepal’s Rana dynasty

A brother's tribute to Bharat Shumsher