When Girjau said last week "I'll resign after elections" some of his detractors rejoiced. But it soon dawned on them that what Sanobabu was actually saying was: "I decide when elections are held."
So why is Delhi so miffed at Girjau? Ever since the prime minister's public outburst against Amareshbhai there have been plenty of indications that Koirala is not listening to Lainchour.
Mao buddies have moved quickly to capitalize on the icy relations. The Maoist statement on UNMIN mandate extension was a xerox copy of the Indian statement.Which is probably why Shyam Saran is not speaking to Ram Sharan these days, but to Comrade Lotus. Eavesdroppers told the Ass there was considerable bonhomie in the telephone conversation on Monday between the two.
Is this also why South Block is sitting on accepting the First Niece's candidacy as Nepal's emissary to the Delhi Darbar? It doesn't look like Shailaja (or the four other Maoist nominees) will be flying out anytime soon, even if they can get confirmed air tickets.
The question is, when it is time to go, will Shailaja also fly cattle class like Suresh Chalise had to on the trans-Atlantic leg of his flight to DC this week? Baluwatar managed to get him an upgrade up to London, but after that our new envoy to Foggy Bottom was consigned to steerage.
And Pampha Bhusal must be glad she isn't yet in Paris, otherwise the seven-day banda that has brought France to a standstill may have been blamed on infiltration of the French trade unions by Himalayan Maoists.
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Don't know who His Awesomeness was trying to impress by declaring that he was boycotting Tihar because it was a symbol of Nepal's "patriarchal and feudal value system". But his party comrades didn't seem to have any qualms about \'celebrating\' other aspects of Tihar like extorting money across the country in the form of revolutionary deusi chants.
The comrades may have thought it was mighty smart to leave their cadre in charge of state-controlled media like Maobaddy TV, Radio Mao, Maopatra, The Rising Anew Nepal and the Revolutionary News Agency even after their resignation from government. Not satisfied, they've been setting up a network of Radio Republics all over the country. The trouble is, however much Mahara Babu tells them not to use the channels for propaganda, old habits die hard. The attitude is: "Listen to us, or else." Needless to say, NTV's ratings are plummeting and Kantipur and Image have benefited the most.
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The way the Young Communist Lawbreakers are going around beating up doctors, journalists, hoteliers and extorting trekkers, the YCL is becoming a huge embarrassment for the party brass who now spend all their time dealing with the fallout.
It led one victim of the YCL's jaw-breaking squad to quip from his hospital bed: "They are like tigers who came out of the jungle to be in a circus. But the trouble is, the tigers have escaped and are roaming the bajar."
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This prolonged political transition is a time for everyone to rake it in as if there is no tomorrow. Nepali pilots flying for fat salaries with Indian domestic airlines need to have their licenses renewed by CAAN. But our uncivil aviation authority knows it has the pilots by their gonads. CAAN is sitting on it and is asking for one month's salary from each of the 12 pilots as baksheesh. Sheesh.
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This from the Harrowing News Department: a Nepali returning to Europe who had a moustache on his passport that he had since shaved off was stopped at TIA immigration. No way you can board your flight, he was told. Later, the official in question (whose name the Ass has been provided in case the CIAA wants to probe) asked for 30K to let him board. The man refused and now has to wait till his moustache grows back.
