Former prime minister and former Nepali Congress president Sher Bahadur Deuba is returning to Nepal on August 13, ahead of a major gathering of his faction, with party cadres preparing to welcome him at Tribhuvan International Airport.

Deuba was initially scheduled to arrive in Kathmandu at 9:45 pm on August 11. He will now land at 12:25 pm on August 13 on a Thai Airways flight via Bangkok.

Congress leader Prakash Sharan Mahat said the late-night arrival was changed following requests from party leaders and workers who wanted to gather at the airport in large numbers to welcome Deuba.

Mahat said party loyalists planned to reach the airport well before midday. Former Central Working Committee chief secretary Krishna Paudel also confirmed Deuba’s revised travel itinerary.

Deuba left Nepal for Singapore on February 25 for medical treatment, missing voting in the House of Representatives election. His return comes after nearly five and a half months away from Nepal’s domestic political scene.

The revised schedule comes as Deuba’s faction in the Nepali Congress prepares to hold a national gathering in Kathmandu from August 14 to 16. The three-day gathering is expected to bring together party office-bearers, former ministers, lawmakers, local representatives and delegates from overseas diaspora organisations.

Deuba’s prolonged stay abroad came amid financial investigations by the Department of Money Laundering Investigation and the Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police. The investigations involve Deuba and his wife, former foreign minister Arzu Rana Deuba.

After the government issued arrest warrants against the couple in April, authorities approached Interpol seeking Red Notices. Interpol, however, rejected the request.

The couple subsequently filed legal petitions, following which the Supreme Court issued an interim order directing law enforcement agencies not to execute the arrest warrants on jurisdictional grounds concerning the Special Court.

In June, Deuba and Rana submitted written communications to the investigating authorities from abroad, saying they were away solely for medical treatment and had no intention of absconding.