KATHMANDU: As the Indian media continued to lavish attention on Nepal’s last king Gyanendra even almost a year after he was stripped of his



ancestral crown, there was growing suspicion in Nepal’s ruling Maoist party about the actual motive behind the deposed king’s India visit and its impact on Nepal’s turbulent politics.

On Sunday, for the third day in a row, a top Maoist leader expressed wariness about the ex-king’s nearly three-week India visit, saying it was a bid to gather support for the restoration of monarchy in Nepal.

Maoist Finance Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai Sunday told a public gathering at Sindhupalchowk district in north Nepal that Gyanendra was meeting Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and other Indian leaders with the intention of obtaining their support for the restoration of his crown.

On Thursday, Maoist Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda too had expressed misgivings about Gyanendra’s first foray abroad after stepping down as head of government three years ago.

Though the 62-year-old former king’s private visit to India is apparently to attend a family wedding in Bhopal, followed by a pilgrimage of Hindu shrines in India, including the Somnath temple in Dwarka, the Maoists are not buying it.

While the former guerrillas, who caused Nepal’s 239-year-old monarchy to topple, allowed Gyanendra, his wife Komal and sister Shobha Shahi to leave Nepal for India, saying he was free to go wherever he wanted in his new status as an ordinary citizen, their wariness stems from two reasons.

The underground Maoists, who were united with the mainstream parties by the Indian government, have begun to distrust their former ally. Since New Delhi has close ties with opposition leader Girija Prasad Koirala, they are wary of a new alliance between New Delhi and Koirala’s Nepali Congress, which could lead to their ouster.

But perhaps the main reason for the wariness is their own failure to provide good governance almost six months after coming to power. Besides growing lawlessness, Nepal is also racked by the most severe power crisis in its history with the nation currently heading towards a 20-hour daily blackout, a lethal combination that is eroding their popularity and could lead to the party’s defeat in the April by-elections.