The Mohan Baidya-led CPN-Maoist has endorsed a political line of “new people’s revolt” that, according to Maoist leaders, will bring the former rebel force closer to one of its more radical offshoots led by Netra Bikram Chand.

Baidya’s political document was endorsed unopposed by the party’s national gathering last week.

The gathering was held around one and a half months after then CPN-Maoist General Secretary Ram Bahadur Thapa, along with the majority of central committee members, quit the party to return to the UCPN (Maoist), which now is known as CPN (Maoist Centre).

Leaders from the Chand-led CPN Maoist said that Baidya’s political line has raised possibility that there could be unification between the two parties. “Baidya’s political line has brought him one more step closer to us,” said a

close aide to Chand. “There is a strong possibility of merger if Baidya and his team wished so.”

According to him, Chand is holding discussions with Baidya to explore the possibility of unification.

While the whole idea governing the political line of the two former rebel parties is to supersede the parliamentary supremacy with “people’s government”, there are some fundamental differences on the concept of revolution.

Baidya’s political line of “new people’s revolution” in some way seeks to take the revolution further using the “people’s war” foundation”.

On the contrary, Chand’s political line of “unified rebellion”, which his party the CPN Maoist adheres to, makes no references to the “people’s war”.

Chand’s political document talks about going for another armed rebellion with the help of rural peasants and urban working class. The party has been functioning in “semi-underground” manner, forming parallel local bodies and

paramilitary structure at the local level.

While leaders from the Baidya camp admit that the newly endorsed political document has brought the party closer to Chand-led CPN Maoist than the Maoist Centre, they have dismissed the possibility of unification with the party in the immediate future.

Hari Bhakta Kandel, a close aide to Baidya, said the unification is a far-fetched idea unless there is uniformity in the political line of the two parties. There is still a big gulf in the ideological lines of the two parties, he added.

“The two parties are still poles apart when it comes to the ideological aspects. Chand’s ideas lack clarity. There is no possibility of merger at present,” said Kandel.

In his political document, Baidya has also ruled out the possibility of unification either with the Maoist Center or the Chand-led CPN Maoist.

He has been critical of Chand’s party, calling it ‘a rightist force that wears left-wing clothing”. He is also sceptical of the CPN (Maoist Centre), which he describes as a “rightist and neo-reformist force”.  Talking to reporters at a press conference organised to inform the decision of the party’s national gathering last week, Baidya had criticised the concept of “unified rebellion”, saying that “it was guided by political opportunism”.

Two years after Chand left then UCPN (Maoist) along with Baidya, he had severed ties with Baidya in November 2014 and formed the CPN Maoist, calling Baidya “incapable” of leading a party and taking the class struggle forward.

Chand’s party to submit memo to PM

KATHMANDU: The Netra Bikram Chand-led CPN Maoist has announced that it will organise nationwide demonstrations across the nation on Thursday to protest against the arrest of party cadres. The party has also decided to submit a memorandum to Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli demanding immediate release around two dozen cadres who were arrested in connection to attack and vandalism on NCell towers. Santosh Budamagar, party’s Kathmandu in-charge, said that the arrests were politically motivated. The party also plans to picket Singha Durbar before handing over the memorandum to PM Oli.