National
Disgruntled Naya Shakti leaders to hold separate gathering
Disgruntled leaders of the Naya Shakti Nepal have announced a separate gathering on March 9 to discuss ideological differences and to form a parallel political structure.Disgruntled leaders of the Naya Shakti Nepal have announced a separate gathering on March 9 to discuss ideological differences and to form a parallel political structure.
On February 23, nine central council members of the NSN expressed their discontent over party coordinator Baburam Bhattarai’s joint statement with Sanghiya Samajbadi Forum Nepal Chairman Upendra Yadav against the local elections scheduled for May 14.
“We had been fighting in the party against organisational biases. Things have come to the fore after the ideological differences,” said Chandra Dev Ojha, a member of the Naya Shakti Central Council. “When the whole party was readying itself for the local polls, the party coordinator opposed them jointly with the SSFN chair,” he added.
Ojha said he was in Dadeldhura, working to form a parallel district committee while other leaders were in other districts for similar purposes.
In a separate statement on Saturday, NSN Central Council member Nirmal Bhattarai, who leads the rebellion, appealed to all Naya Shakti leaders and cadres to participate in the national gathering on March 9.
Nirmal criticises the party leadership for suppressing dissident voices instead of accommodating them. He asked coordinator Bhattarai to come up with a plan to address the dissatisfaction of cadres.
The nine central council members opposing Baburam’s decision were Nirman, Dev Limbu, Ojha, Mohan Bam, Hariram Rimal, UB Ghimire, Sahadev Neupane, Ashok Raj Dhungel and Munindra Basnet.
Ojha claimed that 71 out of the 375 Central Council members were in favour of their statement and would attend the gathering to form a parallel party structure.
They were also discussing probable names for the new group—NSN-Democratic or Samanantar NSN.
Commenting on the developments, Organisational Department chief Devendra Poudel said the dissenters had enough space in the party to voice their opinions. He said the party has sought clarification from them but has not taken action against them.