A very realistic story about Girija: OLD MAN AND THE SIEGE Life has come full circle for the 84-year-old Nepali Congress supremo, Girija Prasad Koirala It was exactly three days after the royal massacre on June 1, 2001. Nepal’s elite had assembled at the ancient royal Palace in Hanuman Dhoka in Kathmandu. The occasion was the coronation of Gyanendra as the King of Nepal. As the new King of the Himalayan country prepared to take the traditional buggy ride from Hanuman Dhoka to Narayanhitti Palace, he urged the then prime minister, Girija Prasad Koirala, to accompany him. Koirala politely declined the offer. “Sarkar, I do not want you to face the public ire,” he said to the king. “People are very angry with me. They will stone the buggy if I ride with you.” Koirala’s popularity during his third term in office was at its lowest ebb. The people of Nepal blamed him for the deteriorating law and order situation, escalating Maoist violence and, worse still, for the Royal massacre, in which 10 members of the royal family, including the king and queen, were killed by the crown prince. A few weeks later, Koirala resigned from office after the Royal Nepalese Army refused to obey his orders to put down the Maoist insurgency. Now, four-and-a-half years later, life has come full circle for the 84-year-old Nepali Congress supremo. Today, as Koirala copes with failing health, people from all walks of life are hoping that he will steer Nepal to safety in this critical period of protest and distrust. In strife-torn Nepal, there is hope in the air. The Nepali elite believes that Koirala alone can bail out the besieged monarch, the common man feels that Koirala alone can ensure unity among the constituents of the seven-party alliance which spearheaded a protracted but successful pro-democracy movement in the kingdom. By a strange travesty of fate, this chain-smoking frail old man has suddenly become a fashionable icon. No more do people talk about his alleged corrupt ways. No more do they whisper about the extra-constitutional authority wielded by his ambitious daughter, Sujata. And no more do people blame Koirala — or GPK, as he is popularly known — for the failure of democracy in Nepal. For a man who brought the mighty monarch down to his knees, Koirala is rather modest. As the streets swelled with protestors last month in Kathmandu — forcing the king to throw in the towel — GPK chose to give the credit to the people for the movement. “It’s the might of people power,” he said when asked who was responsible for the return of democracy in Nepal. But, as the king yielded to the people, Koirala’s own health deteriorated alarmingly as an anxious nation watched. A team of top doctors led by his personal physician, Madhu Ghimre, put him on oxygen support and a saline drip. The swearing-in ceremony to be held at the Narayanhitty Palace was deferred by two days. And a wisecrack quipped that the Grand Old Man of Nepali politics had decided to keep the ‘king waiting’. Sure enough, Gyanendra, who never hid his dislike for GPK, waited for the prime minister-designate to take oath. When it happened finally on Sunday, Koirala, a former union leader, did it on his own terms. He broke several traditions, much to the discomfiture of the Royalists. He asked the Palace not to invite the chairman of the Raj Parishad, the all-powerful Royalist Council. He also did not take oath of office of the Raj Parishad. But, clearly, Nepal stands on the threshold of change. After administering the oath of office and secrecy to Koirala, the king of Nepal — traditionally seen as the reincarnation of Vishnu — put his arm around the shoulders of the new prime minister and led him to a sofa. And, as the media recorded this historic moment, Gyanendra, himself a chain smoker, urged Koirala to quit smoking. For Koirala, who was born in India where his father, a political activist, lived in exile, this is the beginning of another era. GPK’s career so far has been tumultuous, even though he started his political journey 55 years ago under the shadow of his more illustrious brother, B.P. Koirala, often described as the father of Nepal’s democratic movement. GPK held the prime ministerial post for more than seven years after multiparty democracy was restored in 1990. He, however, has the dubious distinction of never having completed a full term in office. During his last tenure, which ended in August 2001, he earned notoriety for what was described as his non-performance and alleged corrupt ways. Despite having fallen out with the Royal Palace, GPK continued to remain a monarchist. Even when the pro-democracy movement gathered momentum and lakhs of protestors threatened to overrun Narayanhitti Palace, GPK opposed it, much to the chagrin of Nepal’s leftists. In private, he told diplomats who called on him that he continued to favour the twin-pillar concept of constitutional monarchy and multi-party democracy. The spirited grand old man of Nepali politics has now begun ruling the nation with renewed vigour. His first task was to declare a ceasefire, withdraw red corner notices on Maoist leaders and set the roadmap for peace. Now that it has been done, Koirala is likely to encounter tougher hurdles on the road ahead. That’s when his tenacity and political acumen will be tested to the maximum.