Krishna Prasad Bhattarai
Encyclopedia
Krishna Prasad Bhattarai (Nepali
: कृष्ण प्रसाद भट्टराई) (13 December 1924 4 March 2011) was a Nepal
ese political leader. As a leader of the Nepali Congress
Party, he made his position by transitioning Nepal from an absolute monarchy to a democratic multi-party system.
Bhattarai was twice the Prime Minister of Nepal, once heading the Interim Government from 19 April 1990 to 26 May 1991, and then as elected Prime Minister from 31 May 1999 to 22 March 2000.
Bhattarai was the officiating President of the Nepali Congress for nearly 26 years from February 12, 1976, and was elected to the post of president of party in 1992 till 1996. He actively participated in the democratic movement of Nepal from its inception. The Constitution of Nepal (1990) was promulgated while he was interim Prime Minister and he was credited for successfully holding the parliamentary election in 1990, a milestone in Nepalese political history.
. He was also one of the first foreign journalists to interview the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
, Nikita Khrushchev
.
He started politics to end the 104-year-rule of the Rana Dynasty
. During the political movement of 1950 to overthrow the Rana autocracy, initiated by the Bairgania Conference of the Nepali Congress
on 26–27 September 1950 (Ashvin 10-11, 2007 BS), he was in charge of armed group Congress Mukti Sena
fighting in Gorkha district
. This armed struggle was initiated by the Nepali Congress, of which he was founding member. The armed revolution by the Nepali Congress was supported by King Tribhuvan, who was in exile, and by India
n and Burmese socialists
. The armed revolution ultimately brought an end to the 104-year-rule of the Rana Dynasty on February 18, 1951 (Falgun 7, 2007 BS). This day is celebrated as Democracy Day
and is a public holiday in Nepal.
After the first parliamentary election of 1959, at the age of 36, he became Speaker of lower house of parliament, though he was not an elected member. After the coup of 1960, Bhattarai was held without trial for eight years at the Sundarijal
Military Detention Camp.
Bhattarai was nominated as the officiating President of the Nepali Congress on February 12, 1976 (Falgun 1, 2025 BS) by then party supremo Jananayak BP Koirala
. He held this post for more than 25 years, during which time he was a key figure in Nepal's democratic movement. He was elected President of the Nepali Congress by the Eighth National Conference of the Nepali Congress, held in January 1992 (Falgun 2049 B S).
in Nepal.
Bhattarai transformed the country from an absolute monarchy to a multi-party democracy without any major problems. He was prime minister when the constitution (1990) of Nepal was promulgated and successfully held the first multi-party election in 30 years. He was a popular leader but lost the election by a very narrow margin.
He again served as Prime Minister from May 1999 to March 2000. He also held the portfolio of foreign ministry from 1990 to 1991 and briefly during 1999 while he was prime minister. He was a founding member and former president of the Nepali Congress Party, and was known for his long intraparty rivalry with Girija Prasad Koirala
. His recent position supporting the monarchy and inactivity in recent political movement that brought down the government headed by then King Gyanendra, rendered him increasingly irrelevant rather than controversial according to some.
and the Nepali Congress (Democratic)
led by Sher Bahadur Deuba
claimed Bhattarai on their side though his sympathy was more with Deuba from the beginning. Both congress parties elected him as Maha Samiti Member (General Convention Member) from Lalitpur District
. On September 26, 2007 Bhattarai declared that he broke relations with the Nepali Congress; the day after the two factions had reunited. Bhattarai's decision was motivated by the move towards republicanism
by the unified Nepali Congress.
, chronic renal failure
and congestive heart failure
and died after having recently said that he would live to be one hundred years old.
[accessed 1 April 2007].
Nepali language
Nepali or Nepalese is a language in the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family.It is the official language and de facto lingua franca of Nepal and is also spoken in Bhutan, parts of India and parts of Myanmar...
: कृष्ण प्रसाद भट्टराई) (13 December 1924 4 March 2011) was a Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
ese political leader. As a leader of the Nepali Congress
Nepali Congress
The Nepali Congress is a Nepalese political party. Nepali Congress led the 1950 Democratic Movement which successfully ended the Rana dynasty and allowed commoners to take part in the polity. It again led a democratic movement in 1990, in partnership with leftist forces, to end monarchy and...
Party, he made his position by transitioning Nepal from an absolute monarchy to a democratic multi-party system.
Bhattarai was twice the Prime Minister of Nepal, once heading the Interim Government from 19 April 1990 to 26 May 1991, and then as elected Prime Minister from 31 May 1999 to 22 March 2000.
Bhattarai was the officiating President of the Nepali Congress for nearly 26 years from February 12, 1976, and was elected to the post of president of party in 1992 till 1996. He actively participated in the democratic movement of Nepal from its inception. The Constitution of Nepal (1990) was promulgated while he was interim Prime Minister and he was credited for successfully holding the parliamentary election in 1990, a milestone in Nepalese political history.
Youth
In his youth, Bhattarai was a journalistJournalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
. He was also one of the first foreign journalists to interview the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...
, Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
.
First democratic movement of Nepal
Bhattarai had actively participated in a long struggle to modernize the Nepalese political system, aiming to transform a society that was isolated for centuries from the outside world.He started politics to end the 104-year-rule of the Rana Dynasty
Rana dynasty
The Rana dynasty ruled the Kingdom of Nepal from 1846 until 1953, reducing the Shah monarch to a figurehead and making Prime Minister and other government positions hereditary...
. During the political movement of 1950 to overthrow the Rana autocracy, initiated by the Bairgania Conference of the Nepali Congress
Nepali Congress
The Nepali Congress is a Nepalese political party. Nepali Congress led the 1950 Democratic Movement which successfully ended the Rana dynasty and allowed commoners to take part in the polity. It again led a democratic movement in 1990, in partnership with leftist forces, to end monarchy and...
on 26–27 September 1950 (Ashvin 10-11, 2007 BS), he was in charge of armed group Congress Mukti Sena
Congress Mukti Sena
Congress Mukti Sena was the militant wing of the Nepali Congress Party. The Sena took part in an armed uprising against the monarchic rule in Nepal in the late 1940s. The revolt started in the Terai region, and spread throughout the country...
fighting in Gorkha district
Gorkha District
Gorkha District of 288,134. It is the location of the Manakamana Temple. Also, the temples of great sage Gorakh Nath and goddess Gorakh Kali temple is located in district, after which the district got its name. Four major rivers run within and along it, they are Chepe, Daraudi, Marsyangdi and...
. This armed struggle was initiated by the Nepali Congress, of which he was founding member. The armed revolution by the Nepali Congress was supported by King Tribhuvan, who was in exile, and by India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n and Burmese socialists
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
. The armed revolution ultimately brought an end to the 104-year-rule of the Rana Dynasty on February 18, 1951 (Falgun 7, 2007 BS). This day is celebrated as Democracy Day
Democracy Day
Democracy Day may refer to:* International Day of Democracy: In 2007 the United Nations General Assembly decided to observe 15 September as the International Day of Democracy and invited all member states and organizations to commemorate the day in an appropriate manner that contributes to raising...
and is a public holiday in Nepal.
After the first parliamentary election of 1959, at the age of 36, he became Speaker of lower house of parliament, though he was not an elected member. After the coup of 1960, Bhattarai was held without trial for eight years at the Sundarijal
Sundarijal
Sundarijal is a village development committee in Kathmandu District in the Bagmati Zone of central Nepal.-History:The VDC was named after the Hindu goddess, Sundarimai. A temple is dedicated to the deity in Sundarijal....
Military Detention Camp.
Bhattarai was nominated as the officiating President of the Nepali Congress on February 12, 1976 (Falgun 1, 2025 BS) by then party supremo Jananayak BP Koirala
Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala
Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala was the Prime Minister of Nepal from 1959 to 1960. He led the Nepali Congress, a social democratic political party.Koirala was the first democratically elected Prime Minister in Nepal's history...
. He held this post for more than 25 years, during which time he was a key figure in Nepal's democratic movement. He was elected President of the Nepali Congress by the Eighth National Conference of the Nepali Congress, held in January 1992 (Falgun 2049 B S).
Interim Government after democratic movement of 1990s
Bhattarai was the Prime Minister of the Interim Government after the 1990 People's Movement/Jana Andolan which brought democracy to the country, bringing an end to the 30-year-old Panchayati government, and to absolute monarchyAbsolute monarchy
Absolute monarchy is a monarchical form of government in which the monarch exercises ultimate governing authority as head of state and head of government, his or her power not being limited by a constitution or by the law. An absolute monarch thus wields unrestricted political power over the...
in Nepal.
Bhattarai transformed the country from an absolute monarchy to a multi-party democracy without any major problems. He was prime minister when the constitution (1990) of Nepal was promulgated and successfully held the first multi-party election in 30 years. He was a popular leader but lost the election by a very narrow margin.
He again served as Prime Minister from May 1999 to March 2000. He also held the portfolio of foreign ministry from 1990 to 1991 and briefly during 1999 while he was prime minister. He was a founding member and former president of the Nepali Congress Party, and was known for his long intraparty rivalry with Girija Prasad Koirala
Girija Prasad Koirala
Girija Prasad Koirala was a Nepalese politician and the President of the Nepali Congress, a major political party. He was Prime Minister of Nepal for four times, serving from 1991 to 1994, 1998 to 1999, 2000 to 2001, and from 2006 to 2008; he was also Acting Head of State from January 2007 to July...
. His recent position supporting the monarchy and inactivity in recent political movement that brought down the government headed by then King Gyanendra, rendered him increasingly irrelevant rather than controversial according to some.
Party politics
Until recently, both factions of the Nepali Congress, the Nepali Congress led by Girija Prasad KoiralaGirija Prasad Koirala
Girija Prasad Koirala was a Nepalese politician and the President of the Nepali Congress, a major political party. He was Prime Minister of Nepal for four times, serving from 1991 to 1994, 1998 to 1999, 2000 to 2001, and from 2006 to 2008; he was also Acting Head of State from January 2007 to July...
and the Nepali Congress (Democratic)
Nepali Congress (Democratic)
Nepali Congress was a political party of Nepal, which was formed due to vertical split of Nepali Congress. Nepali Congress divided to two parties, the Nepali Congress led by former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and the other led by Girija Prasad Koirala.-Merger of Nepali Congress and Nepali...
led by Sher Bahadur Deuba
Sher Bahadur Deuba
Sher Bahadur Deuba is a Nepalese politician and former Prime Minister. He is the second senior most leader of the Nepali Congress. He has twice been elected as the leader of parliamentary party of the Nepali Congress, thus enabling him to be elected twice as the Prime Minister of Nepal.He has...
claimed Bhattarai on their side though his sympathy was more with Deuba from the beginning. Both congress parties elected him as Maha Samiti Member (General Convention Member) from Lalitpur District
Lalitpur District, Nepal
Lalitpur District of 337,785. It is one of the three districts in the Kathmandu Valley, along with Kathmandu and Bhaktapur.Lalitpur District has many schools, colleges and hotels. Adarsha Vidya Mandir, St. Xavier's School, St...
. On September 26, 2007 Bhattarai declared that he broke relations with the Nepali Congress; the day after the two factions had reunited. Bhattarai's decision was motivated by the move towards republicanism
Republicanism
Republicanism is the ideology of governing a nation as a republic, where the head of state is appointed by means other than heredity, often elections. The exact meaning of republicanism varies depending on the cultural and historical context...
by the unified Nepali Congress.
Death
Bhattarai died at Norvic International Hospital, Kathmandu on 4 March 2011. He was the last surviving founding leader of Nepali Congress (NC). His body did not form any urine for 24 hours before this. The hospital reported that he died at 11:26 pm. Bhattarai had been in critical care unit at the Hospital for the last three weeks. He was suffering from chronic bronchitisChronic bronchitis
Chronic bronchitis is a chronic inflammation of the bronchi in the lungs. It is generally considered one of the two forms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease...
, chronic renal failure
Chronic renal failure
Chronic kidney disease , also known as chronic renal disease, is a progressive loss in renal function over a period of months or years. The symptoms of worsening kidney function are unspecific, and might include feeling generally unwell and experiencing a reduced appetite...
and congestive heart failure
Congestive heart failure
Heart failure often called congestive heart failure is generally defined as the inability of the heart to supply sufficient blood flow to meet the needs of the body. Heart failure can cause a number of symptoms including shortness of breath, leg swelling, and exercise intolerance. The condition...
and died after having recently said that he would live to be one hundred years old.
External links
- Website of Nepali Congress Party [accessed 1 April 2007].
- Keshab Poudel: Symbol of Simplicity. Spotlight: Kathmandu, Nepal
[accessed 1 April 2007].
- Facebook R.I.P. Page[accessed 5 March 2011].