KATHMANDU: As Nepal`s parliament prepares once again to try to elect a new prime minister after four failed attempts, concern is growing over the role of neighbouring India in the protracted political crisis.
Nepal`s prime minister agreed in May to step down to pave the way for a new power-sharing government in a deal to secure the support of the opposition Maoist party for an extension of parliament`s term.
Since then, political leaders in the desperately poor country have failed to reach agreement on the shape of the new administration, prompting New Delhi to dispatch one of its most senior envoys to Nepal earlier this month.
India said it wanted to help its neighbour to set up a stable government, but many here believe its true aim was to prevent Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal -- an outspoken critic of India -- from becoming prime minister.
"The perception that Nepal`s sovereignty is being encroached upon has increased," said Ashok Gurung, senior director at the India China Institute at The New School university in the United States.
"It is clear that micro-management by Indian authorities in Nepalese politics has intensified and produced anti-Indian sentiment in Nepal."
Anger at perceived Indian interference was fuelled last week when a Maoist lawmaker said he had received a death threat from an Indian official who warned him against lobbying other parties to vote for Dahal.
The Indian embassy in Kathmandu called the allegation "baseless and irresponsible," but it dominated the newspaper front pages for most of the week and many people in Nepal believe it to be at least partly true.
India has long enjoyed strong political influence over its landlocked neighbour, which depends on the emerging world power for fuel and food.
Virtually all Nepal`s imports and exports must transit through India, which is also a major aid donor to the impoverished Himalayan nation.
The imbalance is a source of resentment in Nepal and makes it fertile soil for seeds of suspicion over Indian meddling in its internal affairs.
"The perception that India has a central role in Nepali politics only grows among the wider public," said political commentator Prashant Jha
"This has serious implications for India itself, for irrespective of whether it is involved or not, it will be held responsible and blamed for any political development here."
Nepal is sandwiched between Asia`s two giant powers, India and China, which has also sought to increase its influence in the country by investing in roads and other infrastructure projects.
But China`s primary interest remains ensuring the cooperation of the Nepalese government in its crackdown on the flow of refugees from Tibet, and it has little obvious involvement in party politics.
Nepal`s parliament is scheduled Wednesday to hold its fifth vote for a new prime minister, but there is little prospect of either candidate winning the overall majority needed to form a new government.
The Maoists, who fought a decade-long civil war against the state before transforming themselves into a political party ahead of 2008 elections, hold the largest number of seats in parliament, but not enough to govern alone.
Their leader Dahal is standing against Ram Chandra Poudel, chairman of the second-largest party in parliament, the centrist Nepali Congress.
The third-largest party, the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (UML), has refused to support either candidate, urging them both to withdraw and open negotiations for a consensus government.
The resulting stalemate has thrust a group of small parties representing the Madhesi ethnic minority into the spotlight because their combined votes would be enough to secure victory for Dahal.
Some Madhesi lawmakers crossed the floor during the third vote on August 2 to vote for the Maoist leader.
India`s envoy, Shyam Saran, is reported to have hosted a dinner for the four parties ahead of the last vote on August 6. All the Madhesi lawmakers remained neutral in the subsequent vote.
BDST: 1144 HRS, August 17, 2010
