Baidhya camp stands tough in its stance

Establishment side tries to woo

TIKA R PRADHAN

maoist cc meet

KATHMANDU: Leaders of the hardline faction of the Unified CPN-Maoist have toughened their stance, saying they would not buy the party chairman’s ‘old techniques’ of trying to appease them any more. However, the establishment faction kept making efforts to convince them today as well.

As many as 129 central committee members aired their views at the party’s ongoing central committee meeting today. Though most of the leaders were aggressive during the meeting earlier today, the leaders speaking later in the day stressed on party unity and underscored the need to correct wrongdoings in the party.

According to politburo member Hari Bhakta Kandel, the ball is now in Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s court. “He has two options ahead. Either we should go for a conference to further discuss the two distinct political lines or Dahal moves forward with the spirit of the Palungtar plenum,” he said. “Hardliners are ready to wait for his next document if he is ready to address the change.”

On the other hand, politburo member Haribol Gajurel, a close aide to Dahal, said there was no possibility of Dahal coming up with another document. “We can now form consensus on work plan and programmes with a common bottom line, as Baidhya has already said they were for moving forward with peace and the constitution,” he said.

Dahal and Baidhya are scheduled to speak on the issues raised by CC members on Sunday.

Party Vice-chairman and Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai had reached Gongabu-based residence of senior Vice-chairman Mohan Baidhya today to urge him to hold back all the differences and join hands for peace and the constitution.

Bhattarai had also requested Baidhya to take the differing views to the general convention.

(Published in The Himalayan Times on 7 Jan 2012)

UCPN-M mending its ways

Tika R Pradhan
	KATHMANDU: The year 2011 remained very turbulent, tough and challenging for Unified CPN Maoist, though the establishment faction of the party could heave a sigh of relief. This year, UCPN-M Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, realising some bitter facts of Nepali politics, began to correct his previous activities that had provoked the southern neighbour. Travelling to different parts of the world, Dahal managed to fence souring ties with neighbouring India making a government under his party’s leadership possible. In the last quarter of the year the Unified CPN-Maoist, though dividedly, launched the peace and constitution drafting processes that had stalled for a very long time. However, it was essential for the hardliners in the party, who had thought the mandate of the Palungtar plenum held last year could be implemented, to intensify their protest against the establishment side, who, according to them, had abandoned all spirit of a communist party. Since there was no alternative for the party establishment but to leave the achievements of the people’s war in order to lead the nation ahead and take credit for successful implementation of the peace and constitution drafting processes, severe division surfaced within the party. Hardliners wanted to go through the processes of peace and constitution drafting and also to keep all the achievements of the people’s war intact, which was next to impossible. Thus with the intensification of the peace and constitution making processes, the rift between the two factions of the party also intensified. Leaders of both factions, including the media owned by both the factions have begun attacking each other. Maoist general secretary Ram Bahadur Thapa even accused Dahal of being a RAW, which shows the extent to which the magnitude of the rift has intensified. The Dhobighat Factor KATHMANDU: The Dhobighat episode is one of the most important incidents in the political life of the Unified CPN-Maoist. The meeting decided to strip off Party Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal of his power, but ultimately made him more powerful after he managed to use some of the major leaders teaming up against him at Dhobighat — Vice-chairman Baburam Bhattarai and another Vice-chairman Narayan Kaji Shrestha, both prime minister and deputy prime minister in incumbent coalition government now. Dahal was very anxious during the incident and was worried about his political career, but later he emerged victorious. “It felt like the pain before giving birth to a child,” Dahal had told this scribe in an exclusive interview to The Himalayan Times. The Dhobighat incident also has a major role to play not only in Maoist politics but also the national politics. At one point, Bhattarai, who had almost come close to another Vice-chairman Mohan Baidhya, a hardliner in the party, later joined hands with party chairman again, ultimately to become the prime minister on August 28. Baidhya, however, has been vehemently criticising the Dahal and Bhattarai along with the leadership for relinquishing the idea of a ‘people’s revolt’. (Published in The Himalayan Times' New Year Supplement Dec 31, 2011)