Thirty years ago today, in the second week of this month, i.e. on Magh 8, 2052, it was 4 months and 12 days since Sher Bahadur Deuba, the leader of the parliamentary party of the Nepali Congress, became Prime Minister for the first time. He was appointed Prime Minister on Bhadra 6, 2052. A coalition government was formed under Deuba's leadership with the support of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP).

Deuba became Prime Minister after overthrowing the nine-month minority government of the largest party, UML, in the 2051 parliamentary mid-term elections. Within four months of Deuba becoming Prime Minister, UML had started a game of bringing a no-confidence motion against the government with a group of RPP. The main opposition party, UML, was continuously discussing to topple the government.

UML and RPP had held four talks in the four months since the Deuba government was formed. UML had formed a 'high command' consisting of Standing Committee members KP Sharma Oli and Radhakrishna Mainali to form a government with the RPP. The high command had already held talks with RPP leaders Surya Bahadur Thapa and Lokendra Bahadur Chand.

On 20 Poush 2052, while the UML Central Committee meeting was in progress, Oli and Ojha had gone to meet Thapa and Chand for the first time with a proposal to form a government, asking them to hold talks with the RPP. In the backdrop of the ongoing discussions, the UML's 'high command' informed about the progress made in forming a government with the RPP in the central committee meeting held on 2052 Magh 8.

RPP leaders had tried to form a participatory government on their own. RPP leader Chand had said that it was difficult for UML to join the government because it was unclear about the king. UML's then general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal had explained to Chand that his party was not anti-monarchy and that UML's republican line had automatically been broken. After that, it was proposed that if the RPP wanted to form a government with his party, the UML should get a decision from the central committee.

In the previous meeting of UML, the leaders had expressed the opinion that the government should not be formed with the RPP. But Oli had said in the Magh 20 meeting, ‘If anyone cannot agree with the RPP in the previous meeting, it was a mistake.’ In the discussion on Oli’s report, CP Mainali, who is also the head of the party’s parliamentary department, had also silently supported it. Some UML leaders in the central committee had also started calling the RPP a democratic party.

The ‘senior’ leaders of the RPP were ministers in the government, but they were trying to topple that government. MPs were also called to the central committee meeting to discuss forming a government with the RPP. UML Parliamentary Party Chief Whip Devi Prasad Ojha had come to Kathmandu from Jhapa to participate in the meeting. The secret discussions on forming a government with the RPP were made public by a press release close to the UML on Monday.

After the secret meeting was made public, attempts were also made to call other close press releases of the party to refute the news. In response to Kantipur's question, Ojha had said that the meeting did not take place because not all his friends were present at the meeting, even though it was a general discussion topic. But Chief Whip Ojha had already issued a whip on Magh 2 and 3 and sent a letter stating that it was necessary to come to Kathmandu to participate in the meeting.

During the four months that Deuba was Prime Minister, the UML tried to form a government in which he participated together with the RPP and the discussion held in the party's central committee. The Kantipur Daily published the news on Magh 9, 2052 under the title 'Secret meeting of the UML parliamentary party to form a joint government with the RPP'.