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Centenary BP Koirala Day Marked
By KTM Metro Reporter
September 10, 2013: Nepali Congress cadres marked the centenary day of BP Koirala with various activities in Kathmandu and elsewhere in Nepal yesterday. BP was the first elected prime minister. He spent seven years in jail for being an elected prime minister. He has been the supporter of the monarchy throughout his life even though he was a socialist in thinking.
BP made a first mistake not opposing the treaty between the Nepalese king and the then de facto Rana rulers signed in New Delhi in 1951 bypassing the Nepali Congress that launched the armed revolt against the Rana regime. Ganeshman Singh sitting at the Kathmandu jail had vigorously opposed the bypassing of the Nepal Congress by the king and the Rana prime minister but BP did not listened to it.
Second mistake BP committed was he did not hold elections to a constituent assembly to craft a constitution when he was home minister in the interim government headed by the last outgoing Rana Prime Minister Mohan Shusher even though the Nepali Congress could win the election overwhelmingly and craft a constitution of his choice.
The third mistake BP committed was he accepted the constitution crafted by the then King Mahendra with a clear provision for dismissing any elected government. He himself became the first victim of this provision.
The fourth mistake he committed was after the general elections held in 1959, winning the largest possible majority, and forming an elected government, he as the prime minister instead of institutionalizing the democratic institutions undermined them making the Nepali Congress cadres as the shadow officials of the State agencies.
The result was Mahendra easily dismissed BP, and put him behind bars without any opposition from the people that had voted Nepali Congress to power only 18 months ago. The Nepali Congress took 30 years to get back the lost power and glory that also not by virtue of the deeds of the party but of the evil deeds of the Panchayat system imposed by Mahendra.
