Kathmandu, November 10:

Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala today said that true tributes to the Supreme Commander of the 1990 Jana Andolan will be paid only when the elections to a constituent assembly are held successfully.

“Completing the mission of holding the election to a constituent assembly and drafting a people’s constitution will pay real tributes to Ganesh Man Singh and other martyrs,” he said while addressing a function organised to unveil a statue of the late Singh at the Peace Garden at Ratnapark on the occasion of Singh’s 92nd birth anniversary.

The PM said he will not remain in peace before holding the CA elections. “It has

become my only duty to work for peace and stability through the parliament, without betraying the people’s aspirations and mandate.”

“With cooperation from all parties, the upcoming session of the parliament will announce a new date for the election,” Koirala expressed hope.

Remembering his first meeting with Ganesh Man Singh, he said that he had found Singh very “unimpressive”. Saying that Ganesh Man later proved his first impression wrong, Koirala said: “He was a real diamond of the country.”

Koirala also said that he could not imagine what Singh and other pioneers of the Nepali Congress would have advised him at the present turn of events if they were alive now. Saying that he misses leaders like BP and Ganesh Man very much, Koirala said:, “I feel really alone in this battle.”

Koirala, a bitter rival of the late Singh during the late stage of Singh’s life, today remembered his old-day comrade as a real diamond of the nation.

Speaker of the interim parliament Subas Nembang said the seven political parties have to remain united despite differences of opinion and take major decisions through consensus till a new constitution is drafted through the constituent assembly.

“The people’s mandate will not be completed until election to an inclusive and participatory constituent assembly are held and a new constitution which does justice to all the people from the mountains, the hills, and the Terai is drafted,” the Speaker said, adding that the completion of these tasks alone will pay tributes to the martyrs in a real sense. Vice-president of the NC Prakash Man Singh said true tributes to Ganesh Man will be paid only when fair and inclusive elections to the constituent assembly are held.

He said that Ganesh Man’s leadership was the main reason behind the success of the 1990 movement. “You can hardly find people like Ganesh Man, who sacrificed the premiership for the sake of inter-party unity, in Nepal’s political arena,” he said.

On the occasion, the PM unveiled the life-size statue of Singh flanked by a list of the names of the martyrs of the people’s movements in 1990 and 2006.

THT lensman awarded

KATHMANDU: Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala on Saturday handed over the Jana Andolan Padak (People’s Movement Medal) to Rajendra Manandhar, a photo-journalist with The Himalayan Times, for his “glorious” coverage of the Jana Andolan II.

Bhimsendas Pradhan, the coordinator of the Peace Park construction committee, said that Manandhar’s coverage of the Jana Aandolan II through his photographs specially from the Kalanki area was praiseworthy.

Min Bajracharya, another photo-journalist at the Himal Magazine, was also awarded with the medal for his outstanding coverage of the people’s movements in 1990 and 2006. — HNS