By IANS
Kathmandu : The gala birthday bash to celebrate Nepal's King Gyanendra's "diamond" birthday turned into a royal fiasco with the prime minister, cabinet ministers, foreign envoys, bureaucrats and other VVIPs staying away Friday and fears of violence Saturday rising in the capital.
Nearly 80 percent of the guests invited to a black-tie lavish cocktail dinner hosted by Queen Komal on the eve of the king's 61st birthday did not turn up at the Narayanhity royal palace, making it yet another debacle for the monarch whose experiments in politics and diplomacy have been failing since 2002.
Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, who had been frequently advocating a ceremonial monarch while a steady demand has been growing for the abolition of the 238-year-old crown, did not attend Friday's dinner and his cabinet also stayed away.
The absence was very much on the cards after Koirala, while addressing the parliament Wednesday, obliquely asked the royal family and their followers to leave Nepal ahead of the vital election in November.
The European Union ambassadors present in Nepal also said they had collectively decided not to go to the dinner.
Even the countries sympathetic to the royal regime, Pakistan and China, followed the other envoys and sent in their regrets.
Three former royalist prime ministers were among the 150-odd guests who kept faith with the embattled king.
Lokendra Bahadur Chand, who was appointed as the prime minister after the monarch sacked Sher Bahadur Deuba in 2002, Chand's successor Surya Bahadur Thapa and another former premier Marich Man Singh turned up at the palace braving demonstrations.
Even the army chief, Gen Rukmangad Katuwal, who had defied public criticism to attend the king's birthday last year, when the monarch had just been forced out of power due to an uprising, did not attend Friday's dinner.
Media reports said royal relatives and some former army officials were among the few faithful who stood by the sinking royal ship.
The king's star continued to plummet with the authorities deciding to divest him of yet another traditional function Sunday.
The Bhoto Jatra is an important religious festival in honour of Hindu deity Rato Macchindranath, worshipped by agrarian Nepal in the hope of a good rainfall and bountiful crops.
After the deity goes on a chariot ride through the capital, his jewel-studded garment – the bhoto – is held up before thronging crowds as a good omen.
Traditionally, it was the king's prerogative to display the bhoto, a function that he executed even last year, when anti-monarchy feelings were running high.
This time, the function will be taken over by the prime minister, who has assumed all the powers and privileges of the king after a new constitution came into effect this year, putting the monarchy on hold till the November election.
The controversy over King Gyanendra's three-day birthday celebrations continued to snowball with the capital Saturday bracing for violence.
Eight student organisations affiliated to the ruling eight parties as well as their youth wings have warned that if the government did not stop the festivities, they would.
On Saturday, the birthday of the king when the palace gates are opened to the public who usually turn up in large numbers to wish him, the dissenting groups plan to hold a protest meeting at the heart of the city.
With royalists too readying to take out a march to the palace to show support for the king, it is feared that there would be a clash between the two sides, causing further disruption.