Former king Gyanendra Shah|In controversy again
IANS/Kathmandu
Nepal’s two former prime ministers (PMs) objected to former king Gyanendra Shah’s visits to different parts of the country, saying he was trying to disrupt the constituent assembly (CA) polls to be held in November.
Shah is touring different parts of the country and providing relief packages to flood victims. In Nepal, monarchy was overthrown in 2008.
“If I were in power, I would send the former king to jail,” said former PM Baburam Bhattarai at a press conference held at his residence, adding that the former king has been pleading different power centres to revive the monarchy without further elaborating.
Similarly, former PM Madhav Kumar Nepal also criticised the former king’s visits to different parts of the country.
“Revival of the monarchy is not possible, I object the former king’s recent activities,” said Nepal after the meeting with President Ram Baran Yadav yesterday.
Nepal’s political parties often criticise the former king’s activities and statement. Parties fear his activities could create ground for the revival of monarchy.
Meanwhile, former PM and CPN-UML leader Nepal left yesterday for India on a five-day visit during which he will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and officials.
The visit of the three-member CPN-Unified Marxist-Leninist party delegation that also includes party secretary general Ishwor Pokhrel and party’s international relations department member Rajan Bhattarai is being made at the invitation of the Indian prime minister.
“On Thursday, we will have meeting with foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai, and in evening we will meet Prime Minister Singh,” Bhattarai said.
They are also slated to meet External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.
Ahead of the visit, Nepal, a senior leader of the CPN-UML which came third in the 2008 polls, met President Ram Baran Yadav and discussed a wide range of bilateral issues to be raised with Indian side.
In a bid to expanding fraternal relations with Indian communist parties, the visiting delegation will hold meeting with parties such as the Communist Party of India-Marxist, the Communist Party of India, the Forward Bloc and the Communist Party of India-Marxist-Leninist.
They will also meet leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Nationalist Congress Party, the Samajwadi Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Janata Dal-United and representatives of Nepalese community in India.
Nepal will deliver a lecture at the Indian Council of World Affairs on recent political developments in his country and upcoming constituent assembly elections. He will also visit and deliver a lecture at Nalanda University in Bihar.
The visit is the part of the Indian government’s policy to expand talks and consultations with the Nepalese political parties to further strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries.