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VOL. 03, NO. 05, Aug 01, 2009 (Shrawan 17 2066)
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Hidden Power
As the possibility of another political turmoil emerges as a hot topic in Kathmandu’s cocktail circuits, an India-based Nepali baba has gotten down to “warding off the evil” by way of his mantra for revival of the world’s only Hindu nation of not long ago.
The baba saw the rise of the phoenix in the economist politician, Dr. Man Mohan Singh, long before his Catholic party boss sacrificed prime-ministership for him.
The man predicted the exit of P.V. Narsimha Rao, Singh’s former boss, and later, the tragic end of his political career.
The baba today, understandably, has access to two of the most powerful leaders of the most powerful South Asian nation – Man Mohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi.
This same man is in Kathmandu, busy receiving leaders of all hues and colours in audience. Former prime ministers Lokendra Bahadur Chand, Surya Bahadur Thapa and Sher Bahadur Deuba have been his visitors.
He is also reported to have met ousted king Gyanendra.
A host of other political heavyweights have flocked to the baba’s temporary ashram in Kathmandu to seek his audience and, of course, blessings.
His mission, according to a prominent leader, is to revive Nepal as the world’s only Hindu nation.
The move, if it becomes a reality, would reverse a major change that was enforced after the advent of the republic – the declaration of Nepal as a secular nation.
And it is certain to have far reaching implications in the current volatile political transition.
Former prime minister Surya Bahadur Thapa was the luckiest to have the longest audience of the baba – one and a half hours.
Thapa, incidentally, is the only Nepali leader who to date retains the trust of the Nehru-Gandhi family, said a source.
He is due to dash off to Delhi soon for important consultations. So is another former prime minister Deuba, who is still smarting under the shock defeat as leader of the NC parliamentary party.
-- By SUSHIL SHARMA
