The quarrel within the Nepali Students Union (NSU), sister organisation of the NC, has peaked. After NC Vice Chairman Sushil Koirala disbanded the NSU leadership and named his own man, Mahendra Sharma, as chairman, the dispute has spilled out into the streets. The NC working committee is planning to take action against student groups protesting the new leadership. If that happens, leaders such as Gagan Thapa and Pradeep Poudyal will also be prosecuted. Both were accused by the NC working committee, led by Girija Prasad Koirala's daughter Sujata Koirala and vice-chairman Sushil Koirala, of being \'royalists'. In an interaction program organised a few days ago by the Reporter's Club, Sujata Koirala clearly stated that all who chanted slogans and raised black flags of protest against the party chairman were royalists. Thapa and Poudyal are popular leaders within the NSU and have direct influence within the NC as well. The party's Narhari Acharya, Ram Chandra Poudyal and Arjun Narsingh have shown their solidarity with Thapa. But the Koirala family shows no sign of relenting. This fight is not new. The process of staging coups and bringing in new leaders is starting to become a trend within the NSU.