Nepalgunj, February 13

Nepali Congress General Secretary Shashank Koirala is learnt to have called on Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adhityanath in India.

Having reached Lucknow from Nepalgunj yesterday, Koirala, along with another NC leader Minendra Rijal and former Nepali ambassador to India Deep Kumar Upadhyaya, met the Uttar Pradesh CM yesterday.

Meanwhile, the meeting between the firebrand Indian Hindu leader openly lobbying for Nepal as a Hindu state with monarchy, and the NC leader — a vocal supporter of the idea that the agenda of whether Nepal ought to be declared a Hindu state or otherwise should be decided through a plebiscite — is being seen eagerly by many.

It is, however, yet to be learnt whether the meeting was just a courtesy call or one with political agenda.

Chief District Officer Kumar Bahadur Khadka of Banke district disavowed any knowledge about the nature of the Nepali Congress leaders’ India visit, saying he only knew that Koirala and his team had headed to India through the Nepalgunj entry point.

It is worth noting that earlier former king Gyanendra Shah had also used this route to meet Adhityanath in India. Back then, Shah’s meeting with the pro-Hindu leader on his Lucknow trip had also been the talk of the town for quite some time.

The route from Nepalgunj is the shortest, a three-hour drive to Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, India.