Nepal's three powers are off in three different directions. While King Gyanendra was hugging babies in Lamjung, political parties were marching on his palace in Kathmandu and the Maoists were coming to terms with new threats to their free movement in India.

The king tried to defuse the political anger in his Pokhara address on Sunday by calling for poll preparations in the new Nepali year. The parties immediately saw it as yet another royal trick, and launched a more aggressive phase of their agitation to mark the anniversary of the 1990 People's Movement next week.

There is also a military stalemate. The Maoists proved they are able to inflict frontal attacks on hill towns and are gearing up to paralyse the country next week with a three-day banda.

The Maoists' post-Beni elation must now be tempered by the arrest of senior politburo member, Mohan Baidya by Indian police in Siliguri on 28 March. Coming so soon after the extradition last month of another politburo member, Matrika Yadab, it must worry the Maoists that their hideouts and supply lines in India are no longer secure.

The Maoists immediately tried to turn this into propaganda points by appealing to Nepali nationalism. In a statement on Wednesday, Maoist leader Prachanda said Baidya's arrest "proves there is collusion between the feudal rulers of Nepal and India over rivers and natural resources".

The Maoists, the parties and the palace are each suspicious of the other two ganging up. Home Minister Kamal Thapa this week accused the parties of cosying up to the Maoists. Prachanda warned the parties against taking up the king's offer of elections. And the parties have all along maintained that the monarchy and the Maoists are collaborating to destroy democracy.

Political leaders reflect these rifts. "The king and parties must come together to deal with the Maoists," says Rajeswar Debkota, leader of the anti-Thapa RPP. "I see no problem with the king going around the country to meet his subjects."

Nepali Congress leader Sushil Koirala sees machinations behind the royal tours. "The felicitations show just how insensitive the king is toward the present political turmoil," he told us on Thursday. "We are not going to budge until parliament is restored and an all-party government formed."

Meanwhile, civil society groups this week unveiled a three-option roadmap for peace that includes elections, a referendum and constituent assembly. The ideas have been forwarded to the Maoist leadership, the political parties and the government.