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Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala (Nepali: विश्वेश्वरप्रसाद कोइराला; 8 September 1914 – 21 July 1982), better known as B. P. Koirala (Nepali: बीपी कोइराला), was a Nepali revolutionary, political leader, and writer. He was the Prime Minister of Nepal from 1959 to 1960. He led the Nepali Congress, a social democratic political party. He was the grandfather of Bollywood actress Manisha Koirala and the older brother of former prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala and the younger brother of former prime minister Matrika Prasad Koirala.
Koirala was the first democratically elected and 22nd Prime Minister of Nepal. He held the office for 18 months before being deposed and imprisoned at the instruction of King Mahendra. The rest of his life was spent largely in prison or exile and in steadily deteriorating health.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest political personalities in Nepal, Koirala was a staunch supporter of democracy. He asserted that guarantees of individual liberty and civil and political rights alone were not sufficient in a poor country like Nepal, and that democratic socialism was the solution to Nepal's underdevelopment. (Full article...)