we are told that the Prime Minister met His Majesty last Wednesday, and that the king was not terribly enthusiastic about the mobilisation of the army. The opposition was baying for the Prime Minister's blood and boycotting parliament, the Maoists had stepped up their activities and the king was not being very supportive of him. Koirala realised his best move would be to finally resign.
The day Koirala resigned, the Indian ambassador, Deb Mukharji, went to meet Sher Bahadur Deuba at his residence. After meeting with the ambassador, Deuba went to meet a nominated Upper House MP. It is not difficult to guess why the ambassador was having tea with Deuba-he was prime minister when the Mahakali Treaty was signed and the Indian ambassador wanted to thank him for that and also request similar help in future.

About ten days before this, the Maoists had sent Deuba a letter wishing him a bright and successful future. Around the same time they also made a public statement that they would not attack anyone outside the Gyanendra-Girija clique. Deuba was receiving help from all quarters, and this helped him to become the leader of the parliamentary party. Koirala understood what was going on and all that played an important role in his decision to resign.

Ram Chandra Poudel had not even thought about resigning as deputy prime minister, no matter how difficult the situation. Then, some weeks ago, he had dinner at the residence of the chief of the RAW (India's Research and Analysis Wing) in Nepal. Immediately after that he decided to quit.

The pro-Indian RPP and Sadbhavana party, which until now were silent spectators, also decided to boycott parliament and ask for the Prime Minister's resignation.

Chakra Prasad Bastola, also thought to be close to India, said he too was in the running for prime minister, but once the Deuba-Dev connection started working, he slowly withdrew. Yet, even as the voting was taking place, he said he was prime minister-in-waiting, and would be running the country in about six months time.

Sources say that soon after he became Prime Minister last week, the Maoists called Deuba on his mobile phone. The government-called and Maoist-supported ceasefire was announced after that conversation. Jai Prakash Prasad Gupta, Hom Nath Dahal, Purna Bahadur Khadka, Chiranbivi Wagle and Khum Bahadur Khadka were present when the telephone conversation took place. All this shows just how efficiently the different factions were working, how strong their influence was.