King Mahendra imposed security laws and imprisoned Vishwabandhu for six months in Nakkhu Prison after he resigned as a member of the National Panchayat. Thapa, who was released, was involved in farming. King Mahendra appointed Thapa as the chairman of the 'Village Return National Campaign' formed to strengthen the Panchayat.
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According to former minister Bhupal Man Singh Karki, no other political figure was as fond of his nephew (Vishwabandhu) as King Mahendra. ‘The king has given orders many times – Vishwabandhu has the potential to become the prime minister after BP in the country. But it is difficult to know what to do and when he will change his mind.’
One day, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Dr. Tulsi Giri, came to Vishwabandhu Thapa's residence and said, 'The King will definitely remove me and appoint you as the Chairman of the Council of Ministers.' On the same day, at midnight, the Military Secretary of the Palace, General Sher Bahadur Malla, called him on the phone, 'The King has summoned you to the palace.' Thapa immediately replied, 'Please make a request to the King, the ancestral relations between His Majesty the King and us Thapas have not been cordial for a long time. Moreover, the result of the midnight summons from the palace has been very sad.
(Note that Prime Minister Mathwar Singh Thapa, who was summoned from the palace in the middle of the night, was assassinated.) Therefore, I will appear at the palace early tomorrow morning.'
The next morning, another Vice-Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Surya Bahadur Thapa, unexpectedly came to his residence. He asked, ‘Why did you refuse to appear at the palace at night?’ At the request of Surya Bahadur Thapa, both of them boarded the same vehicle and left for Narayanhiti Palace. On the way, Surya Bahadur said that the king will definitely remove ‘Jogi’ (Dr. Giri) and appoint you as the chairman of the Council of Ministers. If you obey the royal order without any conditions, everyone will be well.’
Vishwabandhu was brought before the king alone, who was waiting for the arrival of the senior vice-chairman of the Council of Ministers. As soon as the king saw Vishwabandhu, whose ears were red (an indication of Mahendra’s anger), he started a conversation by saying, ‘Will you continue to talk about absurd history even when called?’ Finally, he said, ‘I have decided to appoint you as the chairman of the Council of Ministers in place of the doctor. Do you have anything to say?’ As if waiting for the opportunity, Bishwabandhu put forward a condition, ‘Before appointing me, the government had to release political prisoners and lift the ban on the party.’
Before Thapa could finish speaking, the king interrupted him and said, ‘I understand your statement, I will consider it and call you.’ Then the king called Surya Bahadur Thapa. The next day, Radio Nepal broadcast a statement from the royal palace, ‘The resignation of Dr. Tulsi Giri from the post of Chairman of the Council of Ministers has been accepted by His Majesty the King, and a new cabinet has been formed under the chairmanship of Vice-Chairman Shri Surya Bahadur Thapa.’
Dr. Giri and Bishwabandhu Thapa had a close friendship. This closeness was broken only after Dr. Giri’s death. They used to use ‘Ta Ta, Ma Ma’ more in Hindi than in Nepali. According to Thapa, it was he who introduced BP to Dr. Giri. BP had appointed Thapa and Dr. Giri as joint general secretaries at the same time, leaving behind other seniors in the party. When Subarna Shumsher was elected as the president of the Nepali Congress, both were promoted and appointed as general secretaries on BP's suggestion. He was also the one who arranged for Dr. Giri to meet King Mahendra for the first time. Thapa had revealed that there was a conspiracy between the king and Dr. Giri to oust Prime Minister BP. Thapa had also revealed the conspiracy against BP.
Thapa had learned in New York that on 1 Poush 2017, the king had mobilized the army to dismiss the elected government, arrested the Prime Minister, members of the Council of Ministers and leaders and workers of major political parties, dissolved the parliament and suspended the constitution. For three months, he had been participating in the United Nations General Assembly as a Nepali representative. After hearing the news, he left for Kathmandu. A few hours after arriving at Gauchar (Tribhuvan International Airport), he was arrested by an army general. Thapa told him, "Inform the court that if I am to be arrested, I will go to my arrested leaders. Once I go there, I will not return." He was released after a long interrogation.
Before leaving for New York, the King had advised Bishwabandhu not to go there. On the advice of Home Minister Surya Prasad, Prime Minister BP had deputed him for the second time to attend the United Nations General Assembly meeting. Bishwabandhu, who had paid a farewell visit to the King before leaving for New York, was informed by the King of his decision to go on a state visit to Britain in a few days, along with Deputy Prime Minister Suvarna Shumsher. On that occasion, he had expressed his intention to persuade Suvarna to be appointed Prime Minister by ousting BP. Thapa politely requested the King not to take that step immediately. The King said, "I will wait as long as possible until you arrive. If that happens, I have called Hrishi (Nepali Ambassador to the US and Permanent Representative to the UN) to London. I will give advance notice through him."
Thapa was certain that the king would take an unpleasant step. However, he did not think that the step would be taken so quickly. The Shah, who had returned to New York from Britain, had also not given any information.
In Colombo, when talking to Dr. Tulsi Giri, King Mahendra would unfailingly mention that he liked Vishwabandhu. And he would add, ‘If anyone else had said the same thing in front of the king, he would have hanged him. He had a habit of speaking unbridledly. Once, without any rhyme, he told the king – ‘You know very well that you are not God. We have created a delusion in the people that the king is God. They started believing us and considering the government as God.’
King Mahendra imposed the security law and imprisoned Vishwabandhu, who resigned as a member of the National Panchayat, in Nakkhu Prison for six months. Thapa, who was released, was involved in farming life. King Mahendra appointed Thapa as the chairman of the ‘Gaun Fark National Campaign’ formed to strengthen the Panchayat. Chairman Thapa nominated him as a ward member in the Bharatpur Panchayat election with the aim of participating in the Panchayat election. But he was defeated by an unknown person ‘Sukucha’. He approached the king to resign from the chairmanship. The king asked him, ‘Why should I resign if I am being deposed as a ward member?’ He replied, ‘The government knows very well that I was not defeated by Sukucha. In my understanding, the government does not need my services. Therefore, my resignation should be accepted.’
King Birendra reorganized the Gaun Fark National Campaign to further narrow the Panchayat. He reappointed the same Thapa as the chairman of the new powerful Gaun Fark. But Chairman Thapa went to receive Dashain tika with BP. Birendra called him and asked, ‘What did you do to make me do this?’ Thapa replied, ‘I had gone to Lakshmi Niwas to pay my respects to Sarkar Suvarna Shumsher. What did I do wrong by going to pay my respects to Sandaju?’
The next day, a statement was published from the royal palace accepting Thapa’s resignation.
