Saying that the result has also dismissed the claim made by the Maoist party that there had been massive electoral fraud in the November 19 elections last year, they maintained that the results of the by-polls in which the party fared badly was yet another “serious blow” for the third largest party in the CA.

This has only demonstrated the party’s downward journey that began from last year’s November 19 election, according to the Maoist leaders.

Meanwhile, UCPN (M) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal is planning to hold serious consultations with the party’s top leaders regarding the party’s poor performance in the by-elections. Results have showed that the party secured the lowest number of votes in all four constituencies. And this was also evident from the fact that the vote secured by the UCPN (Maoist) candidate and Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal (RPP-N) candidate is almost equal. On the other hand, Maoist party leaders said the long-tussle between Party Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and senior leader Baburam Bhattarai has affected the party’s organisational structure as well as it inherent strength.

 “The prolonged intra-party dispute has plagued the party from centre to grassroots level, which is a major reason for the party’s dismal performance in the November 19 elections,” said UCPN (Maoist) leader Haribol Gajurel.  He also attributed the shameful performance to the lack of factional support in the party’s election campaigns.

Leaders close to Dahal and Bhattarai were of the view that the party should undergo massive reformation to regain the party’s previous influential position. Even after the party’s general convention held last month, leaders say there has not been any initiations aimed at rebuilding the party organisations across the country.

“If such a situation persists, we would face an existential crisis. So, we have underlined the need for a new political force on the basis of the new party ideology,” said leader Devendra Poudel.

Maoist leaders also said that they have utterly failed to impress the people with their agenda and party should seriously review its policies.  Furthermore, leaders of the Bhattarai faction have said that the party’s poor performance in the June 22 by-polls has only made it quite evident that the current party leadership as well as party ideology have “turned obsolete.

“We gave Dahal a free hand in running the party, but the results of the by-polls showed that he has failed utterly in running the party,” said Poudel.