Delhi Accord

Delhi Accord was a tripartite agreement (verbal) in Delhi after mutual agreement between Ranas, Nepali congress party and King Tribhuban.

Background

King Tribhuvan's anti Rana attitude had been an open secret for long in Nepal. In November 1950, King Tribhuvan took refuge at the Indian Embassy against the Ranas. He was accompanied by his son Mahendra and the eldest grandson Birendra, among others. On 10 November, two Indian planes landed at Gauchar Airport and flew back to New Delhi with the Royal family excluding the infant King, Gyanendra.[1] King Tribhuvan was formally welcomed by the Indian prime minister Jawahar Lal Nehru and other high officials.

Provisions

The major provisions of the Delhi Accord (Agreement) are as follows:

An elected constituent assembly will frame a democratic constitution within 2 years.
There will remain an interim cabinet (government) of 10 ministers under the Prime Ministership of Mohan Shumsher of which 5 will be taken from the Nepali congress.
There will be no restriction to open political organizations. All the political prisoners will be set free and agitators have to hand over all the weapons to the government and stop the movement.
King Tribhuvan will remain the King of Nepal and ultimate power lies in the monarch.

Aftermath

On 15 February 1951, King Tribhuvan and the leading members of the Nepali Congress returned to Kathmandu. Huge flock of supporters gathered and welcome their monarch at the airport. On 18 February 1951, King Tribhuvan announced Nepal’s first steps to democracy with a historical proclamation. According to the Delhi accord coalition government was formed. The members of the cabinet were:

1. Sir Mohan Shamsher - Prime minister and Foreign Affairs.
2. Sir Baber Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana - Defence.
3. Chudraj Shamsher - Forests.
4. Nripa Janga Rana - Education.
5. Yagya Bahadur Basnyat - (Rana Bhardar) - Health and Local self-government.

From the Nepali Congress side:

1. Subarna Shamsher Rana - Finance.
2. B.P. Koirala - Home.
3. Ganesh Man Singh - Commerce and Industry
4. Bharatmani Sharma - Food and Agriculture
5. Bhadrakali Mishra - Transport.

This cabinet was reshuffled on 10 June 1951 to replace Baber Shamsher by Shangha Shamsher and Bharatmani Sharma by Surya Prasad Upadhyaya [2]

Legacy

Finally, On 7th Falgun 2007 B.S. King Tribhuban returned to Nepal as a head of state, thus ended the rana rule. This agreement was one of the major stepping stone for the power shift of government from the autocratic families to common people.

References

T. Louise Brown (1 November 2002). The Challenge to Democracy in Nepal. Routledge. pp. 18–. ISBN 978-1-134-88533-6.
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/soc.culture.nepal/nfG1DGYD0a4

4. Autobiography: B. P. Koirala

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[Brown2002-1] T. Louise Brown (1 November 2002). The Challenge to Democracy in Nepal. Routledge. pp. 18–. ISBN 978-1-134-88533-6.

[2] ttps://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/soc.culture.nepal/nfG1DGYD0a4