Bollywood's actress Manisha Koirala has made a high-profile visit to the memorial of her grandfather B P Koirala, the first elected Prime Minister of Nepal, fuelling speculation that the Nepali beauty was set to join politics.
Manisha visited BP Memorial Museum in eastern Kathmandu accompanied by her mother Sushma and father Prakash Koirala, who is in political wilderness after serving in the dethroned king Gyanendra's last cabinet.
"I honour the sentiments of BP Koirala, and after visiting this museum I have got a sense of responsibility towards my country," wrote Manisha, who spent over two hours at the memorial.
Manisha, who recently arrived in the capital from Kashmir where she has a shooting assignment, told reporters that she has developed interest in politics and like Indian superstar Amitabh Bachchan and other Indian actors-turned-politicians she would also join active politics to serve the nation in future.
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The comments by the Bollywood actress is seen as significant amid growing stature of Deputy Prime Minister Sujata Koirala, the daughter of Nepali Congress president G P Koirala, and the expulsion of Prakash from the party.
Prakash, a staunch royalist, was a minister in 2005 Gyananedra's cabinet. He was expelled by the Nepali Congress for his support of Gyananedra's 2005-06 autocratic regime.
The Memorial site where Bishweshwor Prasad Koirala, popularly known as 'B.P', the elder brother of Nepali Congress supremo Girija Prasad Koirala, was jailed for eight years by late King Mahendra has now been converted into a museum for the popular leader.
One of the items on display at the museum, which was established five years ago, was a 1960 era telephone set gifted by Bangalore Telephone Company to B.P. when he was the Prime Minister of Nepal.
Nepal abolished the 240-year-old monarchy last year and has been struggling to establish a stable post-royal government amid continuing deadlock among the political parties.
The Maoists, who joined mainstream politics after a 2006 peace deal with the interim government led by G. P. Koirala, have been blocking the Parliament and organising protest rallies in the capital since Prachanda resigned on May 4 as Prime Minster after the President Ram Baran Yadav reinstated Army Chief General Rukmangad Katawal, who has now retired.
The political standoff has put new stresses on Nepal's reconciliation efforts after the end of the decade-long insurgency in 2006, amid fears that the stalled peace process may be derailed if the Maoists agitation is not ended soon.
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