This group of leaders appears to be shifting allegiances based on their own political futures rather than on political ideas and principles.
What you should know
The debate over restructuring within parties has intensified after the Sushila Karki-led interim government, formed in the wake of the Gen-G movement, announced elections to be held on February 21.
There has also been an increase in the movement of party changes among leaders, unity among parties, and formation of new parties. Some leaders have returned to their respective constituencies to prepare for the elections.
Along with the unity of parties, some leaders are also changing parties. The then Maoists and the left-wing parties, including the Unified Socialist Party, united to form the Nepali Communist Party. However, leaders including the then Maoists' Deputy General Secretary Janardan Sharma, Secretary Ram Karki, and former Maoist Sudan Kiranti have not joined the NCP and have instead engaged in a separate political campaign through the 'Progressive National Campaign'.
Similarly, some leaders including the then Unified Socialist Party's Vice President Ghanendra Basnet, General Secretary Ghanshyam Bhusal, and Secretary Bijay Poudel did not join the NCP. They also called on other left-wing parties to come in favor of broad unity, saying that they would rather reorganize the Unified Socialist Party. Two prominent leaders from the National Independent Party have also left the party and chosen a different path. There has also been a rift in public opinion and civil emancipation.
Sharma, the then Maoist, and Bhusal of the Unified Socialist Party, who did not join the NCP, have reached a new agreement with Netra Bikram Chand, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Nepal, to form a common front and move forward. Sharma, Bhusal and Chand have raised the issue of leadership transfer, saying that the current leadership of the old party cannot meet the expectations of the youth.
Similarly, Baburam Bhattarai of the Nepal Samajwadi Party (New Shakti), the Progressive Movement led by Sharma, and Chief Whip Santosh Pariyar, who left the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) last Friday, have also agreed to form a new 'progressive' democratic party in a recent tripartite understanding. The agreement signed by Kiranti, the coordinator of the Maoist Communist Party of Nepal, Durga Sob, and Pariyar states that a party will be formed for the elections.
‘We have agreed to hold a comprehensive unity declaration program on 7 Mangsir by making the name and election symbol of the new unified party one for unity and polarization,’ the agreement of the three leaders states, ‘We call on progressive, democratic, leftist and patriotic forces living in the country and abroad, and especially the Gen-G generation, to participate in the campaign for comprehensive political restructuring.’
Leader Manushi Yami Bhattarai also said that the process for registering the party with the Election Commission has been initiated. ‘We will form a party that accepts progressive and democratic values under the leadership of the young generation,’ she said. Another leader informed that this front, which will be formed in the ‘backup’ of Baburam and Janardan, is holding talks with other new parties for unity and cooperation. ‘This is the beginning for alternative political forces. Discussions are also underway with other new political forces for unity and cooperation,’ the leader said.
Ramkumari Jhankri, the leader of the Unified Socialist Party, also did not join the unity process with the Maoists, nor did she sit with General Secretary Bhusal. She said that accepting the leadership of the then Socialist Party president Madhav Nepal, who was formed by splitting the UML, was the biggest mistake of her political life, and considered it better to return to the UML than to leave. ‘I had reached the leadership of Madhav Nepal while standing up for internal democracy within the party. This was the biggest mistake of my political life,’ she had said before returning to the UML.
The influence of the Gen-G movement has also been seen in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) that emerged in the last general election. Sumana Shrestha, who had also become the Education Minister from the RSS, left the party on 29 Bhadra, 6 days after the Gen-G movement. She is currently supporting the government formed on the strength of the Gen-G movement by staying close to Prime Minister Sushila Karki.
The scoundrels who left the Maoists are also leaving as they return to their old homes. Sharma and former Secretary Karki have led them. They are preparing to form a progressive, democratic party with broad left polarization through a progressive campaign. Leaders of the Chand-led party, Chiran Pun and Karnajit Budha, have joined the alliance with the Maoists.
The party switching of leaders seems to continue until the day of filing of candidacy. Leaders are switching parties keeping in mind their political future rather than on the basis of political ideas and principles. Vice-President Deepak Sah has left the party due to public opinion, while Resham Chaudhary, the guardian of civil emancipation, has formed another party and has even received recognition from the Election Commission.
Periodic elections make democracy dynamic. Analysts say that since parties are an integral part of democracy, their formation, reorganization, and party switching are natural. Than Bahadur Chhetri, a professor of political science at PN Campus Pokhara, comments that parties have not done justice to generational transfer after the Gen-G movement.
‘Parties have not been able to do justice to internal generational transfer. "It's just a show of strength outside that the old leaders have united," he said. "Party splits are not new, and it's also interesting that leaders have switched sides after the Gen-G movement. They must have calculated the win-loss ratio now that the election has been announced."
