In what appears to be an endorsement for his comeback efforts, former Nepal King Gyanendra Shah Saturday received a grand welcome in Kathmandu on his return from Pokhara after nearly two months stay in the tourist city.
Top leaders and cadres of the pro-monarchy Rastriya Prajatantra Party welcomed the former King at the airport.
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Hundreds of security personnel were deployed from the Kathmandu airport to the Nirmal Niwas to avert any untoward incident.
It took almost two-and-half-hours for the car carrying the former king to get to his private Residence –Nirmal Niwas– from the Tribhuvan Domestic Airport, less than five km away, with a large number of supporters, especially youths, cheering him along the route.
The crowd chanted slogans in favour of the return of the monarchy,
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and at least at one place, they shouted slogans against Prime Minister K P Oli, who has been challenging Shah to launch a political party and contest elections if he was so serious about getting into power.
The former king has been away from Kathmandu for the past two months,
with bases in Jhapa in the east and Pokhara in the west, and visiting
over a dozen places, mainly temples and shrines, a move seen as a
way of testing his popularity as that of the K P Oli government following a series of corruption cases and allegations of ‘ordinance raj’ in the country.
Supporters of the former King have been rallying in different parts of the country, including Kathmandu and Pokhara, for the past few days, demanding the reinstatement of the monarchy abolished in 2008 following a people’s movement.
The former king has been away from Kathmandu for the past two months. (AP/ PTI Photo) 
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