Less than a year after Girija Prasad Koirala departed for good, another stalwart of the oldest and the biggest democratic party, the Nepali Congress, bade adieu. Thousands had poured out on the streets to pay their last homage to Koirala. Krishna Prasad Bhattarai received an equally tearful farewell. For someone who, unlike the late Koirala, had dared to stand against the tide of the times and risk isolation Bhattarai would have been pleasantly surprised to see the waves that stood up to appreciate what he stood for – a principled stand and ethical values no matter what. He was certainly not a saint leader. He was an average ordinary man not free from, in his own words, “lacunas and deficiencies.” But he was a leader with extraordinary courage and quality and a rare sense of humour. He made an unparalleled contribution to Nepal and the Nepali politics. The vacuum he left in the ethical and value-based politics will be difficult to fill in. But he could have made it much easier had he refrained from some big blunders as we have mentioned in our cover story.


Keshab Poudel
Editor