The rumour has it that a senior Nepali Congress leader, Bhim Bahadur Tamang, may soon be approached by the king to become the next Prime Minister. Among the top candidates that have been scanned so far for the job, Tamang seems to have made it to the # 1 in all accounts. He is known to be a pleasant mannered, firm but extremely respectful of others, brings in plenty of proven organizational and leadership skills and experience; has the reputation of being a visionary, a good planner, an inveterate reader and writer, well educated, fully conversant in English in addition to Nepali and a couple of ethnic languages, and above all, he has an impeccable background of both rural and urban and he is someone who understands the country’s history and geography well. And, by any stretch of measure, he is not known to be a corrupt person. His earlier experience as law and justice minister will serve him well should he become the Prime Minister. One reason that his name seems to have appeared on the top of the list, Tamang may be acceptable both to the Maoists and UML as he may be someone whom they can trust when it comes to a negotiation. The question is will BB Tamang accept the premiership under the existing conditions of the king? The sources also hinted that Tamang will ask for complete freedom to form his cabinet. The next PM then will be charged with the responsibility of holding the parliamentary elections subject to negotiations with all parties, most importantly --the Maoists. Of course, the sticky point remaining to be resolved will be the demand for formation of the Constituent Assembly that the king could not and would not allow it to happen under his chairmanship. Interesting but one source also said Tamang will decline the offer as he prefers to remain a loyal soldier of the Nepali Congress but he will be persuaded to take the job by NC stalwarts. In that case, Tamang will want to resign from the primary membership of the NC to become a non-party PM. Is this possible? Could this be a nice exit for the king from the current mess??