The extent to which Pushpa Kamal Dahal's faction will be at risk is beginning to be assessed as influential Maoist leader Janardan Sharma increases his presence in Chitwan.
We use Google Cloud Translation Services. Google requires we provide the following disclaimer relating to use of this service:
This service may contain translations powered by Google. Google disclaims all warranties related to the translations, expressed or implied, including any warranties of accuracy, reliability, and any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and noninfringement.
Janardan Sharma, the then Deputy General Secretary of the Maoist Center, who recently severed his long organizational ties with Pushpa Kamal Dahal, has formally linked his new political campaign to Dahal's home district of Chitwan.
The Chitwan declaration meeting of Sharma's organization 'Progressive National Campaign Nepal' was held in Bharatpur on Sunday. The coordinator of which is Deepak Shahi, a member of the Bagmati Province Secretariat of the then Maoist Center.
Chitwan is the home district of Dahal, who was the then Chairman of the Maoist Center and later the Coordinator and the Coordinator of the Nepali Communist Party formed by the merger of the Maoist Center and Madhav Kumar Nepal-led CPN-Unified Socialists and other parties.
Dahal was elected to the House of Representatives from Chitwan-3 in the 2074 BS election. Dahal's daughter Renu, who is a Maoist leader in Bharatpur Metropolitan City, which has about half the population and half the voters of Chitwan, has been elected mayor twice. There is talk that she will contest the upcoming House of Representatives election from Chitwan.
Therefore, the assessment of how much risk the Dahal faction will face when the influential Maoist leader Sharma increases his presence in Chitwan is starting to be made. On Sunday, the Chitwan Committee of the Progressive National Campaign was announced at a hotel near the Bharatpur Central Bus Park.
Although members of the Bagmati Province Committee have joined Sharma's campaign, big leaders at the district level have not participated much. But those who have joined the campaign are also the faces of the Maoists from the armed struggle to the peace period.
Pavitra Rijal, vice-chairman of the Maoist Bharatpur Metropolitan Committee, has also joined Sharma's campaign. Sudarshan Poudel, who came to Chitwan to coordinate Sharma's campaign, is also an old Maoist leader from Chitwan. Poudel was the first head of the 'People's Government' in Chitwan, which the Maoists declared to exercise parallel power during the armed war. He was also arrested during the conflict. He played an active role in the party not only during the conflict but also in the local elections. In both local elections, he was seen working to make Dahal victorious as mayor of Bharatpur Metropolitan City.
Is Sharma's activism in Chitwan limited to this? It seems that it has become a matter of interest to many now. However, no one has officially made their comments on this matter public.
Familiar faces from the old to the young and from workers to farmers' organizations were seen at Sharma's campaign's Chitwan declaration meeting. Despite being in his home district, Dahal, the coordinator, has already lost the support of his influential leaders.
After the 2074 BS election, in the then Nepal Communist Party (NCP), which was formed by the merger of the UML and the Maoists, Ram Bahadur Thapa, a senior and old leader of the Maoists, who was from Chitwan, stayed with the UML. Thapa, who is currently the UML vice-president, had satirized the Dahal-Nepal unity in a speech in Narayangadh on Saturday, saying that 'our former friends have built a 10-room house'. Yama Bahadur Pariyar, who led the Chitwan Maoists during the armed conflict, is also currently in the UML.
Everyone is interested in what kind of challenge Sharma's organizational presence in Chitwan could pose to Dahal, who has already lost the support of his old 'elders' and leaders. As the situation continues to change, Dahal is forced to do something to keep the leaders and cadres of his home district united. Sudarshan Poudel, a participant in the declaration meeting, was saying, 'Today we have organized a program to give the message that we are in Chitwan too. The real campaign will now continue to grow.'
