BP is a guru of democratic socialism thought: Culture Minister Pandey

Kathmandu, July 21: Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Badri Prasad Pandey, has said that BP Koirala has been established as the guru of the democratic socialism ideology.     

Minister Pandey made the remarks addressing the BP Koirala National Award, 2080 Conferment Ceremony organized by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation at the Prime Minister's official residence at Baluwatar on Sunday on the occasion of the 42nd memorial day of BP Koirala the first people-elected Prime Minister of the country.     

Minister Pandey said that it was BP who propounded the concept of a 'socialism-oriented constitution'.     

According to him, BP's dream of making such a provision in the constitution thought to be promulgated through the Constituent Assembly in 2007 BS has come to fruition only after about seven decades.     

He argued that this very thinking built the ground for BP to become a noble person who made a great contribution to the nation's politics and literature both. Stating that BP's fame had spread even overseas when he became the people-elected Prime Minister for the first time in 2016 BS, Minister Pandey said that the Socialist International had made BP its Vice-President at that time.     

He added that it was the late BP who advocated for pursuing equality and freedom together and taking the country ahead towards becoming the happiest country in the world. The Minister stated that BP's political thought was guided by this principle alone.     

Noting that this spirit (as espoused by BP) has been reflected in the present constitution as well, he stressed its implementation.     

"We, the two largest parties, have come together at one place, taking a risk, to use the powerful weapon Brahmastra to banish the sense of despondency prevalent in the country, to make the economy stronger and to eliminate corruption. Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is presiding over this," Minister Pandey said.     

Former Minister and lawmaker Gyanendra Bahadur Karki asserted that the agreement reached between the Nepali Congress, the largest party, and the CPN (UML), the second-largest party in parliament, is for the country's development and resolving the existing problems, and not for power and for retribution against anyone.     

Ministry secretary Dr Ganesh Prasad Pandeya informed that the BP Koirala National Award 2080 has been presented jointly to two personalities towards the political genre and to two other personalities towards the literature genre.     

On the occasion, the Prime Minister jointly conferred the prize on Kishor Kumar Adhikari and Homnath Dahal for the year 2080 BS (towards political philosophy). The prize carries a purse of Rs 200,000.     

Similarly, towards the literary genre, the Award was jointly presented to Prof Dr Yogendra Prasad Yadav and Prof Hari Prasad Sharma Parajuli.     

The Ministry has been presenting this prize since 2078 BS. (RSS)