Under pressure

Kathmandu, April 18: The Nepal royal family has begun renovating King Gyanendra’s private residence, Nirmal Niwas, on a war footing after the Maoists issued a 28-day deadline to the king to vacate the Narayanhitti Palace.

Gyanendra’s son Prince Paras and his wife Himani are supervising the renovation of the Niwas, located in the busy Maharajgunj area of Kathmandu.

Palace sources told The Telegraph today that Princess Himani is taking personal interest in the interior design of the Niwas by giving suggestions to the architects.

“The princess is advising the designers especially on the colour schemes for carpets, furniture upholstery and drapes, while the prince is looking after the construction work,” the sources said.

They added that a residential block is being constructed on the northern side of the sprawling grounds.

The sources were, however, not sure if the new block would serve as the living quarters for the royal couple and the queen mother.

“On the contrary, it is likely that Paras and his family may move into the new block leaving the old building for Gyanendra,” the sources said . They added that a new helipad is also being constructed on the grounds.

The sources were not sure about the source of funding for the renovation and construction. “Nobody knows who is paying for the entire project,” the sources said.

Both Paras and Himani had moved into Nirmal Niwas after Gyanendra and his wife Komal moved into the Narayanhitti Palace after the June 1, 2001, royal massacre.

Nirmal Niwas was constructed by Gyanendra’s father Mahendra in the early 1970s.

Senior Maoist leader Baburam Bhattarai today issued a 28-day ultimatum to Gyanendra to leave the Narayanhitti Palace .

Bhattarai, the Maoist second-in-command, told the BBC Nepali Service that Gyanendra had 28 days to vacate the palace and if he did not do so the people would force him out.

“The king would have to return to his own residence from the palace in four weeks, since through the Constituent Assembly election, people gave given us the mandate to turn Nepal into a republic.”

He added that the king could remain in the country like an ordinary, “law -abiding” citizen. After the royal family’s exit, the palace would be turned into a museum, Bhattarai said.

Other than the Narayanhitti Palace, the royal family owned six other properties distributed all over Nepal. Three of these buildings, the Hanumandhoka Palace, Patan Palace and the Gorkha Palace, are on the Unesco’s heritage list.

Maoist majority

The Maoists today inched closer to a simple majority under the direct voting system, bagging 119 seats in the elections.

With 240 seats up for grabs under the first-past-the-post voting system, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) is just two short of a clear majority, followed by Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala’s Nepali Congress with 35 seats and Communist Party of Nepal-UML (CPN-UML)with 31.

However, the former rebels got only 32 per cent of the votes cast under the proportionate representation system which prevents it from clinching a majority in the 601-seat Constituent Assembly.