Debate rages on over Jha joining in the largest party, so much so that the issue of giving full shape to the party´s central committee is being overshadowed by his proposed entry into the party.[break]
Some Madhes-based leaders in the party are lobbying against allowing the top party leadership to appoint Jha to the party´s top body while other leaders want to give him a key role in the party so that the former rebels could establish a strong foothold in the Madhesi community.
What is the main reason for the Maoist leaders centering on this issue, even overshadowing the task of giving full shape to the central committee?
The main reason is that the Maoist leadership wants to bring in a common leader from the Madhesi community to fill the gap left after losing Matrika Yadav. After Yadav´s departure, the Maoist party has had no common leader in Madhes.
And also, once Jha joins up, the role of the existing Madhesi leaders will be cut. The strong objection of the latter to Jha is connected with this issue. The Maoist Madhesi leaders have been objecting to Jha, saying the party should not give him a post higher than central committee member.
As things now stand, Prabhu Sah leads from the Baburam Bhattarai camp, Ram Kumar Yadav from the Narayan Kaji Shrestha faction and Bishwanath Sah from the Dahal faction. They are all of the same rank. Topmost leaders Krishna Dev Singh Danuwar and Mahendra Pasawan have already joined the CPN-Maoist.
Earlier, Sah was the topmost leader among the Madhesi Maoists. He was a politburo member. The rest of the Maoist Madhesi leaders were central committee members.
According to Maoist sources, Jha wants to be party secretary, and is demanding party standing committee membership at minimum. He was scheduled to join the UCPN (Maoist) Thursday at the Dhanushadham mass gathering, where the party chairman himself was present to welcome him.
Calling up the dissident leaders of Madhes, Dahal had urged them not to go against Jha´s joining the party. According to Ram Rijhan Yadav, Dahal had said to them not to reject him on the eve of the elections.
Another reason for bringing Jha in is to prepare the environment for the party in Madhes during the coming elections. "Chairman Dahal is trying to bring Jha in, believing that his entry will help the party win the election in Madhes," said Ram Rijhan Yadav.
How Maoists lost common leader in Madhes
Ram Briksha Yadav, the first central committee member of the Maoists from the Madhesi community, was a popular teacher in Madhes and also a Maithili singer. He was a common leader. But he was killed in his home village of Barmajhiya on the eve of the Maoist people´s war.
After the launching of the insurrection, his whole family joined in the war. His son and daughter-in-law were both killed. His wife Ram Kumari, who was elected lawmaker from Dhanusa, was also killed, in an LP gas cylinder explosion in Kathmandu.
After the death of Ram Briksha, the Maoists groomed Matrika Yadav to take his place, and he was brought into the central committee. Though Matrika was close to the Baidya faction he was a common Maoist leader from the Madhesi community. But he opposed the formation of the UCPN(Maoist) through a merger with the then CPN(Unity Centre) led by Narayan Kaji Shrestha. He restructured the then CPN(Maoist).
After Matrika left, the Maoists have no common leader in Madhes. Among the seniormost Madhesi leaders, Krishna Dev Singh Danuwar and Mahendra Pasawan joined the Mohan Baidya led CPN-Maoist.
Now there are only Prabhu Sah from the Bhattarai faction, Bishwanath Sah from the Dahal faction, and Ram Kumar Yadav from the Shrestha faction. Among them, Bishwanath Sah is senior but they do not accept him as he joined the UCPN (Maoist) only during the merger process.
"After Matrika, Prabhu has to be given the leadership of Madhes but Bishwanath was chosen instead. Dahal does not trust Prabhu. Sah, Prabhu and other leaders are trusted only by their own factions and are not common leaders," said Ram Rijhan.
from Republica
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