Chapter 3

Summary

A few kilometres north of where King Gyanendra made his historic Royal Proclamation of 1 February 2005, inside an ordinary two-storey urban building in Maharajgunj, an old and feeble man appeared deeply worried. His face was wrinkled by stress and advancing age. Despite his apparent physical weakness, a dozen armed men were positioned outside his house to stop him from going out.

This man was Girija Prasad Koirala, the first political leader to be placed under house arrest following the royal takeover. From a trusted army confidant he had learnt of the King's intention to stage a takeover of the government the day before the Proclamation. Ever since, he felt restless.

On that first morning of February in 2005, Koirala was discussing the possible impact of the King's intended takeover with his close associates. One of them was Nona Koirala—the octogenarian leader's closest advisor. Nona was Koirala's sister-in-law, married to one of his brothers, Keshab Prasad Koirala. Many people close to the democratic veteran claimed that after the death of his brother Keshab, widower Koirala became close to Nona. They also said that she was responsible for both the successes and failures in Koirala's political career.

Another person engaged in the discussion with Koirala that day was Sher Bahadur Deuba, one of the most controversial figures in Nepal's democratic history and Koirala's once political rival in the Nepali Congress party. A few years earlier Deuba had been a controversial prime minister. In May 2002 he sought to extend the ongoing state of emergency, imposed by the government to tackle the Maoist insurgency.