"You ain't seen nothing yet." (#99) was a flashback to the past three years of drama in the Nepal Congress. But you may need to look further back to the restoration of democracy 12 years ago for causes of today's events. Kishunji almost flawlessly handled the first two years of interim government and managed to give us a fine constitution. But in the very first election, Girijababu openly campaigned against Kishunji in the Kathmandu constituency, and defeated him.

Immediately after he became Prime Minister, Girijababu dismissed six senior ministers of the "Kishunji camp" on the advice of his stalwarts, who also managed to cripple the bureaucracy by sacking thousands of civil servants. In retaliation, Kishunji's camp abstained from a crucial vote in parliament, which compelled Girijababu to call for mid-term elections, boasting that he would get an absolute majority. The result in 1995 was a hung parliament and Sher Bahadur Deuba as prime minister. But Girijababu became restless and unseated Deuba too.

In the last election, Girijababu announced publicly that Kishunji would be prime minister if his party won. Voters believed him, and Kishunji became prime minister. But Girijababu started trying to bring him down from the very next day. He became prime minister and the whole saga was repeated when he resigned and Deuba took over last year. So last week's drama was only the latest in this long story of back-stabbing. Whether the split in Congress was good or bad, only time will tell. But it is obvious to many neutrals like me that Girijababu is more responsible than Deuba for undermining the Nepali Congress.

Name withheld on request