The factional feud within the UCPN (Maoist) has taken a turn for the worse as senior leaders Baburam Bhattarai and Narayan Kaji Shrestha  jointly submitted a note of dissent to party Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Wednesday. 

Bhattarai and Shrestha have been in serious differences over the selection of PR candidates, which they say, is “against the mandate of Central Committee and criteria prepared by the party.”

In the note, the duo have urged Dahal to correct the PR list he submitted to the Election Commission. 

Party sources said there is also a possibility of these two factional leaders entering into a “tactical alliance” against Dahal to end his “monopoly in the party’s decision making process, including the PR list submission.” The two leaders, however, have deep ideological differences over several national issues. 

Shrestha, for example, had protested Bhattarai’s decisions, including the signing of the Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Act (BIPPA), forming the chief justice-led government and going for the election without taking the CPN-Maoist on board. “Despite the ideological differences in many issues, a tactical alliance is possible [between us] in order to reform the party,” Sherstha said. Bhattarai and Shrestha have said the PR candidates were selected in violation of CC criteria and that no representatives had been selected from 20 districts. 

Dahal held separate talks with Shrestha and Bhattarai on Wednesday when they visited his residence in Lazimpat to handover the note of dissent. Receiving the notes of dissent, Dahal pledged to hold a joint meeting with Bhattarai and Shrestha on Thursday to settle the differences they had over the PR list. So far, the Dahal faction remains adamant in its decision, conveying a message that it is not possible to amend the submitted PR list. 

Dahal has called a meeting of top leaders to explore ways for a solution. The Dahal faction has also asked Bhattarai and Shrestha to present their dissatisfaction in the party’s CC meet which begins next week. But the EC has already said that it cannot wait more than three days for the revision of the PR lists submitted by the parties. Both factions, however, are blaming each other for breaching the party’s mandate and criteria while selecting the candidates. The Dahal faction says that Bhattarai and Shrestha factions were absent in the party’s meeting called to prepare a final list of PR nominees. “The chairman called both the top leaders many times to the meeting to settle the dispute. But they refused to show up in the meeting and leaked the party’s internal matter to the press,” party spokesperson Agni Prasad Sapkota said.  

However, Maoist leader Devendra Poudel, close to Bhattarai, said that the Dahal faction prepared the list without consulting the top leaders. Leaders in the Bhattarai faction say Dahal instructed his loyalists to prepare the list bypassing them. 

Bhattarai has warned to form a new party if Dahal “continues to sideline him”, sources said. Bhattarai has reportedly told his close aides and other leaders that he is “feeling uneasy inside the party to go with Dahal. “Baburamji talked of forming a new party and expressed displeasure over chairman’s working style,” said Hemanta Prakash Oli, leader close to Dahal. Bhattarai has been arguing that Dahal should not hold all executive posts. In a meeting with Shrestha, Bhattarai also hinted at forming a new party if Dahal fails to correct his mistakes and adopt a “collective leadership” model.

Party leader Mahendra Bahadur Shahi, who won the election under the first-past-the-post category, warned to boycott the CA. “The party has ignored the entire Karnali region,” Shahi said.

12 hurt as rival factions clash

The ongoing factional feud between two rival factions of the UCPN (Maoist) over the selection of PR candidates has reached the grassroots level. 

On Wednesday, two UCPN (M) camps clashed in Birgunj, leaving at least a dozen injured. The two factions, one close to party Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and another to senior leader Baburam Bhattarai, clashed at a press meet. Local leaders, activists and a journalist were injured in the incident.

The clash erupted after local leaders and cadres close to Dahal tried to interfere in the function organised by local leaders close to Bhattarai to express dissatisfaction over Dahal’s decision to ‘unilaterally’ select the PR candidates. 

Chairman of Revolutionary Journalist Association RK Patel is among the injured. The other injured include Maoist activists Parshuram Kushwaha, Birendra 

Sah, Anil Sah and Om Prakash Sah. The victims are receiving treatment at Narayani Sub-regional Hospital.

Police reached the incident site soon after the clash broke out and took the situation under control.