Kathmandu, Nepal (BBN)-Nepal’s former prime minister and president of the Nepali Congress Sushil Koirala passed away on Tuesday morning at his residence after losing the battle against a chronic respiratory problem.
Koirala, 78, has also been receiving treatment for “tongue cancer”, reports The Indian Express.
He had returned from the US after undergoing a successful treatment for the lung cancer and is credited with promulgating the new constitution of Nepal in September last year.
Koirala was suffering from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and he succumbed to the disease.
His body will be taken to party’s central office at Sanepa, Kathmandu and kept there for last tributes from party cadres and others, Nepali Congress general secretary Prakash Man Singh said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted condoling Koirala’s death saying India has ‘lost a valued friend.’
Koirala had ceased to be the prime minister as per the provision of the new constitution that was promulgated under his leadership on September 20, and had lost the re-election bid to K P Oli for the post three weeks later. Koirala passed away in the midst of preparations for Nepali Congress General assembly, which is barely two weeks away, and was making every effort to retain the party leadership.
Born in Banaras, India, Koirala entered politics in 1954 and was in political exile in India for 16 years following the royal takeover of 1960.
He also spent three years in Indian prisons for his involvement in a plane hijacking in 1973.
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