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)