Nepal's largest party re-unites

Mr Koirala now leads a significant electoral force

Nepal's oldest and biggest political party has reunited with a breakaway faction to create a powerful force in elections due later this year.

The Nepali Congress, headed by the PM, GP Koirala, has settled its differences with the Nepali Congress (Democratic) led by former PM Sher Bahadur Deuba.

The two factions have been at loggerheads for the past five years.

Meanwhile, the king has stayed away from the ancient festival where a child "goddess" annually blesses his rule.

Correspondents say that his absence is another bad omen for the beleaguered monarchy, because many will see his authority as being undermined.

The Maoists want the immediate abolition of the monarchy

They say that the monarchy has been increasingly ostracised following a peace deal between the government and former Maoist rebels earlier this year.

The deal brought the Maoists into the government - although last week they withdrew from it in protest at its refusal to abolish the monarchy ahead of November's elections to a constituent assembly.

"The king is not going to attend the festival," a palace official told the AFP news agency, "there is too much politics involved."

It is believed to be the first time in the history of the 238-year-old Shah dynasty that a royal has not received blessings from a young girl, or kumari, who is selected and worshipped as a living reincarnation of a powerful Hindu goddess.

A member of the committee organising the event, which took place in the old part of Kathmandu, said that Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala stepped in for the king.

Abolishing the throne

The deal struck between Mr Koirala and his former rival Sher Bahadur Deuba, makes the Congress party Nepal's largest political bloc.

"We have come together for the creation of a new Nepal... and will face the 22 November 22 polls unitedly," Mr Koirala said after signing the unity agreement.

King Gyanendra has been increasingly isolated

The re-unification is expected to give the Nepali Congress the edge over other groups contesting November's constituency assembly elections.

The official policy of the Nepali Congress, and other parties in the ruling coalition, is to wait for the special assembly to be elected in November before deciding the political future of the monarchy.

But party leaders hope that passing a resolution expressing their support for abolishing the throne and declaring Nepal a republic would enable the Maoists to return to the governing coalition.

"We all believe that they should rejoin the government and end the crisis," party spokesman Mahesh Acharya told the AP news agency.

"We all favour abolishing the monarchy but we want it done through the right process and peacefully."