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VOL. 27, NO. 27, March 14, 2008 (Chaitra 01 2064 B.S.)
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In Two Minds
A pre-poll invitation from a key neighbouring country leaves the Maoist chief in a dilemma
By SUSHIL SHARMA
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Prachanda: Serious |
Deep differences have cropped up within the Maoist leaderships over a proposed visit of Prachanda to India.
He along with Baburam Bhattarai and two others are said to have been invited.
There have been no official words yet.
Given the sensitivities of the issue, many do not want to talk about it.
A senior leader said that the issue has not even been brought before the central committee.
He however admitted differences did exist. The reluctant young dissident leader refused to explain.
Another senior leader, Mohan Baidya ‘Kiran’ confirmed that there had been an invitation. He did not specify a date.
“Chairman Prachanda himself told me about it a month ago”, he said. “I do not know the other details.”
At a meeting with the mediapersons last week, Prachanda beat a different note.
“Yes, there is an invitation. It had been there since I went to Delhi to attend a Hindustan Times conference more than a year ago,” he said in reply to a pointed question.
The debate in the Maoist leaderships is said to have centered on the wisdom of undertaking such a visit ahead of the constituent assembly elections.
Some cautioned that the move would be counter-productive.
They suspect yet another ‘ambush’. The reference was to the widely quoted Prachanda remark following, by his own admission, his seventh visit to the Indian embassy in Kathmandu in less than a year.
Others see in the proposed visit an opportunity to clear Delhi’s mistrust of the former rebel outfit.
They believe that this will help improve the increasingly uncertain Maoist prospects at the April hustings.
Said a high-profile journalist after a recent meeting with the Maoist chief, “Prachanda is caught in two minds.”
OVER 4000 CANDIDATES FILE CANDIDACIES
Two thousand and nineteen candidates from various political parties have filed candidacies in 236 constituencies of seventy-three districts for the first-past-the-post system of the April 10 constituent assembly election on Thursday, according to Election Commission. Earlier, 2191 candidates had filed their candidacies at 240 constituencies on February 25.
Later some of those candidates withdrew their candidacies. As per the EC's final list, a total of 4021 candidates have filed their nominations for the direct election. Of them, 387 are women candidates.
Parties filing nominations at the district election offices include Surya Bahadur Thapa led Rastriya Janashakti Party (RJP), pro-monarchist Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal (RPP-Nepal) and the allies of the United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) – Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (MJF), Terai Madhes Loktantrik Party (TMLP) and Sadbhawana Party (SP). Nepal Samata Party, Nawa Janabadi Morcha and Kirat Workers Party also filed their nominations. There were a number of independent candidates filing nominations in various districts. RJP chairman Thapa registered his candidacy form Dhakuta-2 while RPP-Nepal chairman Kamal Thapa confirmed his nomination from two districts, Kathmandu-5 and Makwanpur-3. Similarly, MJF chairman Upendra Yadav registered his candidacy in Sunsari-5 and Morang-5 while TMLP chairman Mahantha Thakur and SP's Rajendra Mahato filed candidacies in Sarlahi-6 and Sarlahi-4 respectively. TMLP leader Hridayesh Tripathi will contest the election from Nawalparasi-6.
The Election Commission (EC) had given one more day for the parties who had missed the earlier deadline for filing their nominations. The government had requested for more time for filing nominations after reaching agreements with agitating groups of Terai and eastern hills. The EC has said the final list of candidacies for the first-past-the-post system would be published on March 9.
