Baidya under fire over proposed CC nominations

KIRAN PUN
Dissidents hand over protest letter to party chief
KATHMANDU, April 19: CPN-Maoist cadres have expressed serious objection to names proposed by the party leaders as central committee members even before the names were made public.
Stating that the proposal is against the mandate of the generation convention, dissident party members said the party leaders have utterly failed to correct themselves even after the split from the UCPN (Maoist).
This is the first major dispute within the CPN-Maoist after Mohan Baidya-led faction split from the UCPN (Maoist) to form a new party last year.“

"They repeated the mistakes committed by Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Baburam Bhattarai instead of making a fresh sta”t," said an eight-point protest letter submitted by the cadres to Baidya“ "This is a tendency to finally take a revisionism pa”h," read the letter.

The dissident members not only expressed their disagreement with the party´s proposal of nominating additional CC members but also boycotted a function organized by the party at Shanti Batika on Wednesday in defiance of the party leaders´ instructions.

The party is scheduled to make public the names of the new CC members on April 22. The dissident group has claimed that the leaders wanting to contest the upcoming Constituent Assembly (CA) polls have proposed the names in their ploy to garner majority in the central committee“

"We have submitted a protest letter to Baidya to rectify the move. We think the nominations would not send a good message and it would be difficult for us to accept ”t," said Sharad Rasaili, chief of All Nepal National Independent Union (Revolutionary), the party´s student wing.

The dissident party members on Thursday morning met Baidya at his residence in Dhapasi and submitted the protest letter. According to leaders, Baidya assured the dissident leaders that he would discuss the issue during the office bearers meeting.“

"We will not participate in any party activities before the move is correct”d," read the protest letter.

The dissident leaders are chiefs of the party´s sister wings, including Rasaili, Rukma Lamichhane, Shiv Kattel, Yogendra Kumal, Prem Darnal, Navin BK, Yubaraj Acharya,Krishna Adhikari, Shankar Adhikari, Manu Lama among others. Similarly, leaders of Bheri-Karnali, Seti-Mahakali, Tharuwan, Abadha, Newa and Madhes state committees have also joined the chorus with dissident leaders.

Jajarkot in-charge Dhak Bir Rana, Dailekh in-charge Ram Lal BK and Sandesh Rana also have expressed dissatisfaction with the party´s move.

According to the letter, the Newa committee has proposed relatives, mainly wives, of the leaders as CC members. From Madhes Bhojpura Dhiraj Patel and Rahim Ansari, who have already faced disciplinary action from the party, have also been proposed as new CC members. They had manhandled leader Badri Bajagain at the party´s general convention in Kathmandu in January“

"The party is currently mired in uncertainty and confusion. The situation will only aggravate if high-handedness of the party leaders continue. It is objectionable that the party has given priority to creating posts instead of bringing a concrete work pl”n," stated the protest letter. The dissident leaders have also demanded that additional CC members be nominated only through a plenum or a national gathering.

They also questioned the integrity of party leadership accusing them of following UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal´s footprints. They also warned that it would be harmful for the party if posts are created unnecessarily only to retain members in the party. Both the UCPN(Maoist) and CPN-Maoist have formed jumbo CC to prevent party members from defecting to the other party.
from Republica