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VOL. 27, NO. 21, February 01, 2007 (Magh 18 2064 B.S.)
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Private Lessons
If recent history is any indication, the upbeat mood over the Terai rallies could prove deceptive
By SUSHIL SHARMA
Information minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara called all the chiefs of the state-controlled media to his Singh Durbar office last week.
The purpose of the call, as Mahara would put it, was to give “a rare” instruction to the government media on the coverage of the seven-party rally in Janakpur.
According to him, he wanted to ensure that the state media did “accurate” reporting of the event.
“The instruction,” he added, “was given at the request of the leaders of the seven parties who were in Janakpur to address the rally.”
The message that the governing seven parties wanted the general people to receive was that the event was a massive success.
The special care for “accurate” reporting in the state media was taken following the threat of a number of armed and unarmed Terai groups to disrupt the rally.
So much for the desperation of the parties who insist that the constituent assembly elections would be held in April, come what may.
Irrespective of what the state media did report under the instruction of the minister, independent media also confirmed that, given the heavy odds against it, the Janakpur rally went off fairly well
The governing party leaders down in Janakpur had every reason to toast for the replication of the event in future, even as key opposition Terai leaders flew up to Kathmandu to attend a republic day reception, on the 26th of January.
With Mahantha Thakurs and Rajendra Mahatos taking a bite of hot samosas and pakodas just across the royal palace in Kathmandu, Bimalendra Nidhis and Matrika Yadavs warmed the Janakpur masses up for the polls.
True, the turnout in Janakpur was not as big as the organisers claimed it would be.
It was the same story earlier, in Kathmandu, Biratnagar and Dhanagadhi, and later, in Nepalgunj.
But the parties can definitely take consolation that the joint election rallies went off fairly well despite disruption attempts.
“Successful” rallies alone may not suffice, however. They may at times be deceptive.
The parties had better check with the man they believe they have informally and practically dethroned and want to make it formally and technically public after the April elections.
Before his infamous February 1 misadventure expectedly backfired, king Gyanendra had a series of “massive felicitation rallies” organised across the country despite the Maoist-called bandha, threat and intimidation.
The royal euphoria did not last long. The rest is the history.
An eminent political commentator had a piece of advice to the seven parties, “ they would do well to look into what went wrong with the king and they will have learnt a hard lesson.”
