As Nepal Foreign Minister Sujata Koirala’s last minute withdrawal from Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal’s entourage to New Delhi on August 18 threatens to snowball into a major political avalanche, her father G P Koirala made a vain last ditch effort to save her from possible disciplinary action by the Nepali Congress Parliamentary Party.

Most members of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), who had been invited over tea by G P Koirala, ignored his suggestion not to precipitate the Sujata issue and leave it to the party general convention, due in February, to settle. Prominent CWC members like Narahari Acharya and Bimalendra Nidhi told him clearly not to appropriate the power of the party’s working committee and the parliamentary wing.

Sujata Koirala who feigned illness and withdrew from the PM’s entourage to Delhi in a fit of anger after Prime Minister Nepal refused to elevate her to the rank of Deputy Prime Minister, has been issued a show-cause notice. The party has set August 25 as the new deadline for her to explain her conduct or face consequences.

The Congress that supports the government as a major coalition partner said what Sujata Koirala did was “in detriment to the national interest and she must be held accountable for it”. The issue now leaves G P Koirala, the unchallenged leader and patriarch of the party, with a difficult choice: stand isolated behind his daughter or let her face action.

“We will be very positive towards her if she apologises,” a senior CWC leader said, adding “the party will not consider her or her father above its constitution any more”. The party had in fact received Sujata’s written clarification, but it insisted “she must be present physically”.

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