The Congress was forced to accept that the Delhi Agreement was not a tripartite one but a bilateral one (Rana and India), with Nehru playing a major role in it.
Democracy was established in the country on February 7 after an armed revolution led by the Nepali Congress in 2007 against a century-long autocratic and dictatorial monarchy and an agreement was reached in Delhi. The Nepali Congress succeeded in bringing the Rana ruler to his knees through the people's revolution.
The Liberation Army of the Nepali Congress first attacked Birganj and succeeded in forming the Janda Gadi People's Government there on the residence of the Chief. But unfortunately, the commander of the Liberation Army, Theer Bam Malla, was martyred there.
After Birgunj, the liberation army achieved success in the people's revolution from Biratnagar, Jhapa, Saptari, Mahottari, Sarlahi, Rautahat to Bhairahwa, Nepalgunj, Dhangadhi, Kanchanpur in West Terai. Similarly, in the eastern hilly areas, Bhojpur, Dhankuta, Sankhuwasabha, Tehrathum, Panchthar, Ilam and other districts, the Liberation Army succeeded in forming a people's government by hoisting the Congress flag.
On October 26, 2007, King Tribhuvan along with his family arrived in Delhi by an Indian Air Force ship from India. Thus, the Rana ruler became frightened by the steps taken by the king who had left the country. This also gave great enthusiasm to the Nepali Congress, which had already taken up arms against the Rana ruler. Due to this, the Jan Mukti Sena won and hoisted the flag in every corner of the country.
Rana Prime Minister Mohan Shamsher from Nepal sent his envoys Vijay Shamsher and Narendramani etc. to Delhi on 11th of January with some points of reform. Among those points - (1) Establishing a Constituent Assembly within 3 years from the suffrage of minors and formulating a new constitution, (2) Forming a 9-member cabinet. It includes 6 people from the Rana's side and 3 people from the people's side, and the cabinet will work on the basis of joint responsibility, (3) until the new constitution is made, the government will be governed based on the statutory laws of the Government of Nepal of 2004, (4) the right to form a political party will be allowed to all Nepalis legally, and (5) all those other than treason and murder will be allowed to return to the country and the Rajbandis will be released.
Thus the points of reform sent by Mohanshamsher were submitted to the Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru. However, Nehru was not ready to accept the minor Gaddisin Gyanendra as the king and remained steadfast in his position of considering King Tribhuvan as the real king. Vijayashamsher, Mohanshamsher's envoy who reached Delhi, sent a message to King Tribhuvan that he had no choice but to accept him as king. From this Mohanshamsher accepted Nehru's proposal and was ready to accept Raja Tribhuvan as the real king.
Delhi Agreement
Rana Prime Minister Mohan Shamsher's announcement was supported by King Tribhuvan and Indian Prime Minister Nehru. However, the leaders of the Nepali Congress, the bearer of the people's revolution, did not know this. They only found out through the media. This made the Nepali Congress suspicious of King Tribhuvan and Nehru. None of the Nepali Congress leaders were able to meet Raja Tribhuvan, who was placed in Hyderabad House in Delhi. In fact, this was a ploy to stop the Nepali Congress's rapid growth across the country and undermine the entire success of the Nepali Congress and the overall achievements of the revolution.
BP Koirala, who was angry with this, gave a statement in Delhi's 'The Statesman' magazine and protested. He said that the anti-democratic existence of the Ranas was kept alive by not allowing the democracy established by the revolution of the Nepalese people to be strengthened. He said that even if they have achieved success in the first phase of the struggle, there will still be another equally important phase of struggle to keep democracy strong and sustainable. He also urged everyone to be aware of this.
Matrikaprasad Koirala, the supreme commander of Janakranti, also said that Mohanshamsher's announcement and King Tribhuvan and Nehru's support cannot be taken positively. It was called a state of disillusionment. He clarified that under the leadership of Nepali Congress, the only objective of the struggle that the Nepali people are fighting under its banner is to end the autocratic rule and establish full democracy in Nepal. He said that any other interim arrangement will not be accepted by the Nepali people until the power is transferred properly to the Nepali people. He was of the view that the so-called declaration would be completely inappropriate to hand over real rights to the Nepalese people.
Meanwhile, India's senior socialist leader Jaiprakash Narayan gave a statement on the 27th of December 1950 regarding the proposal presented by the Indian government and said - India's proposal cannot bring the goal and spirit of the revolution being conducted in Nepal to the expected conclusion. It cannot be expected that there will be proper changes in Nepali society. India is showing more than necessary leniency towards the reactionary Rana government. India has given recognition to King Tribhuvan on one hand, but on the other hand is only negotiating with Mohanshamsher on the assumption that he is the legitimate government of Nepal. This policy of India is not oriented towards the establishment of a new democratic system in Nepal.
Another socialist leader Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia said that the policy adopted by the Indian Prime Minister Nehru regarding the people's revolution in Nepal is absolutely disgraceful. He said that from the points of the proposal submitted by India, Nepal will not be able to get the system according to the people's demand by removing the autocracy of the monarchy. He suggested that the Nepali Congress should not accept the points put forward by India against the wishes of the Nepalese people.
Thus the socialist leaders of India had full support and cooperation towards the people's revolution in Nepal. They helped with everything from arms to international aid and support. Meanwhile, a meeting of Nepali Congress leaders was held in Patna on January 14, 1951 regarding Mohanshamsher's reform points, Nehru's proposal and Raja Tribhuvan's statement. At that time, Indian Ambassador to Nepal CPN Singh also arrived in Patna. He came to Patna to meet Nepali Congress leaders to seek advice on where the talks should take place.
Ambassador Singh meets BP, Suvarna and Matrika in Patna. While Singh insisted that the venue of the talks should be in Delhi, BP said that the talks should be held within Nepal and Kathmandu was an appropriate place for it. But Singh said that Kathmandu can never be a suitable place for talks. Ambassador Singh said that the presence of King Tribhuvan in the talks was mandatory, but it would be a great folly and betrayal to bring the king who managed to escape after taking many risks back to the Ranas' circle in Kathmandu.
BP said - We are not going to surrender to Kathmandu, we are going to negotiate. Whatever the success or failure of the talks, then we go back to our place. That was not acceptable to Ambassador Singh. So the talks were held in Delhi. Matrika, BP and Suvarna were called from Delhi for talks. On reaching Delhi, the Nepali Congress leader tried again to meet Tribhuvan. But, did not get it. There was no discussion between King and Nepali Congress on where to end the
talks. The leaders of the Nepali Congress thought that there would be a tripartite dialogue between the King, the Congress and the Rana or a bilateral dialogue between the Congress and the Rana. However, the talks with Ambassador Singh as discussed in Patna did not take place. India's Prime Minister Nehru met the leaders of the Nepali Congress and did nothing but listen to their opinions.
The team of Rana Paksha was in Delhi under the leadership of Vijay Shamsher. A few days later, on 15 January 1951 (2nd January 2007), it was announced by India that the tripartite talks between Raja, Rana and Congress had reached a decision. Thus the Delhi Agreement was not trilateral but bilateral (Rana and India) only. Nehru played a major role in this. Congress was forced to accept it.
