Giving it a shot

Why Karan Singh? That was the question doing the rounds this past week when the senior Congress leader was chosen as the Prime Minister8217;s Special Envoy to meet Nepal King Gyanendra.

Why Karan Singh? That was the question doing the rounds this past week when the senior Congress leader was chosen as the Prime Minister8217;s Special Envoy to meet Nepal King Gyanendra.

The immediate answer was the royal connection. Singh is said to be distantly related to the Nepal royal family. And that did matter, given that the BJP8217;s Jaswant Singh had approached the government last weekend for a briefing, claiming he had been invited to visit Nepal by Gyanendra.

But beyond that, somewhere down the line, amid the deteriorating situation in Nepal, New Delhi decided that it needed to reach out to the King and deliver the bad news that the time had come for him to relinquish executive powers. There was a roadmap in the prescription, one that wanted the Seven-Party Alliance to form a government, which could then talk truce with the Maoist rebels and set the stage for elections. The hope in India was that the message, borne by the Kashmir Maharaja, would sink in better. After all, Gyanendra does take royalty seriously.

Speaking to The Indian Express after his return, Singh said he was very encouraged after meeting the King but kept his 8216;8216;fingers crossed8217;8217; for the kind of announcement the monarch would make. 8216;8216;Let us hope for the best, we did our bit,8217;8217; is what he said minutes before Gyanendra went live on TV on Friday to announce the transfer of power to the people.

A day earlier at Gyanendra8217;s palace, the two had spent over an hour together. 8216;8216;It was a one-on-one. Everywhere else Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran was with me but when I went to meet the King, it was just he and I,8217;8217; he said. 8216;8216;I gave him the Prime Minister8217;s message and discussed with him the situation in Nepal. He was positive8230;he did realise that something needed to be done because the situation was getting worse.8217;8217;

But was the King serious about democracy at all? 8216;8216;Yes, he wants democracy to be restored. But then there is the problem of the Maoists8230;it is a serious problem. I can8217;t reveal all that happened, but I left with hope,8217;8217; said Singh.

The King apparently was calm and composed throughout the meeting. 8216;8216;He was willing to talk. I had a very good meeting and told him that democracy needed to be restored.8217;8217; Outside the palace, however, Singh admitted the situation was bad with thousands milling about in protest.

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In the end, did he fulfil his brief and did the royal connection work? Singh says he played his role, though he his lack of familiarity with Gyanendra, having only him once before. But, he says, 8216;8216;I just gave it a shot.8217;8217;