Kathmandu, April 21 -- On December 22, 2024, Sher Bahadur Deuba, then-president of Nepali Congress, was in Biratnagar to attend the party's Koshi provincial conference. During his address, then-General Secretary Gagan Thapa said, "Our party president does not talk much."

When his turn came, Deuba returned the favour. "The general secretary has already said a lot, so I will say just one thing: I speak less," he said. "Those who talk a lot shoot themselves in the foot. Those who talk less finish others off."

In that moment, Deuba summed himself up. The politician, now 80 with a political career spanning over six decades, has long faced criticism-at times ridicule-for his reticence. He rarely tried to deflect it, nor did he seem particular...