KATHMANDU, Aug 8: After spending nearly five months abroad for medical treatment, former Prime Minister and Nepali Congress (NC) President Sher Bahadur Deuba is set to return to Nepal next Thursday, just a day before a national gathering of the party’s non-establishment faction in Kathmandu.
Sources said Deuba arrived in Bangkok from Hong Kong on Friday and is scheduled to fly back to Kathmandu on a Thai Airways flight on August 13. He is expected to land at Tribhuvan International Airport on Thursday afternoon.
His return comes at a politically significant moment for the NC, with leaders and cadres from across the country preparing to converge in Kathmandu for a national gathering being organized on August 14 by the faction outside the party establishment.
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Leaders close to Deuba said preparations are underway to welcome him at the airport. Party leaders and cadres arriving in Kathmandu for the gathering are expected to join the welcome.
Deuba had initially been scheduled to return to Nepal on August 11. However, his return was pushed back by two days after he traveled from Hong Kong to Bangkok.
His prolonged absence from Nepal has come amid a turbulent period for the NC. Deuba has been receiving medical treatment abroad since earlier this year, including stays in Singapore and Hong Kong.
The former prime minister and his wife, Dr Arzu Rana Deuba, had traveled to Singapore for further treatment after receiving medical care in Nepal. Deuba later returned to Nepal but went back to Singapore on February 25 for a follow-up. He subsequently traveled to Hong Kong with his wife for further treatment.
Deuba’s return also follows a traumatic episode during the Gen-Z movement, when his residence in Budhanilkantha was set on fire on September 10. Deuba and his wife were also attacked during the incident.
After spending an extended period in Hong Kong, Deuba traveled to Bangkok on Friday, from where he will now make his return to Nepal. His arrival in Kathmandu a day before the national gathering of NC’s rival faction is likely to draw considerable attention within the NC, particularly as the party continues to navigate internal differences over its leadership, organization and political direction.
