Nepal, Aug. 24 -- Sher Bahadur Deuba is among the figures in Nepal's democratic history whose political biography has always carried an uncomfortable contradiction. He fought against the Panchayat system, went to jail, struggled for democracy, travelled a long journey in the politics of the Nepali Congress, became prime minister five times and also served as party president. The contradiction is not that he remained in power for a long time; in democratic politics, power itself is no crime. The real irony lies in how a leader who struggled for democracy gradually began to appear, in his public presentation, close to the same political culture his generation had fought against. I would call this irony the 'Panchayat-isation' of Deuba.

Thi...