OFF THE RECORD (Spotlight Weekly)

"Deubaji Should Quit Politics"

— SHAILAJA ACHARYA

Former deputy prime minister Shailaja Acharya staked her claim to the Congress party's presidentship a month ago. She announced last week that she would begin her campaign by staging a 15-day upabas (fast). The maverick Congress leader spoke to SPOTLIGHT on her election campaign and plans beyond that. Excerpts:

Prime Minister Koirala and Sher Bahadur Deuba are already in the race for the party presidentship. Why did you decide to enter the fray?

I was the first to announce the candidature and I am hopeful Girijababu will support me.

Deuba claims he is contesting the election to oppose the "Koirala-ization" of the party. How do you react to his view?

Deubaji should quit politics if he is really honest. He is responsible for all the corruption and distortions we see in the party today. During his tenure as prime minister, he gave protection to all kinds of illegal activities. His statements about the dominance of Koirala family in the party are just meant to deflect attention from his own record.

What fresh ideas do you have to prove that you are different from the others in the contest?

First of all, I will cleanse the party and encourage party workers to adopt a simple life-style. I have the courage to take such hard decisions.

If the other two candidates do not withdraw from the contest, what will you do?

In that situation, I will fight them.

Mind Your Shoes

Bhattarai : No security at home

If you plan to pay a visit to former prime minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai at his residence in Bhainsepati, make sure you hide your shoes before entering the house. If you are not careful enough, you may have to share the fate of a former senior official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The poor chap had to return bare-footed from Bhattarai's residence. This gentleman is not the first person to have lost his shoes at Bhattarai's residence. It appears that thieves understand the pull of power centres and want to make some political capital of their own.

Ex-minister's Irony

Shoe thieves are also active at many public programs. At an event organized by Golchha Organization at the Jain Mandir last month, RPP leader Jog Mehar Shrestha lost his pair of shoes. Shrestha said he remembered taking them off at a particular spot outside the hall. When he found that the shoes were gone, the distraught former minister had no choice but to go home without them. A truly ironic experience for someone who has held the home portfolio several times.

CPN-UML's "Pravda"

Here is some good news for readers really interested in the official CPN-UML version of events and ideas. The party has started publishing its in-house newspaper, Nava Yug. In the weekly, readers can expect to get the "authentic" viewpoint of the main opposition party in the weekly. It may not be easy for our UML editorial team to sustain their Pravda-type party mouthpiece at a time when more than half a dozen weekly newspapers already come out claiming to be close to the party. Nava Yug will have to prove that it is informative and interesting. It seems UML leader and chief editor of Nava Yug, Pradeep Nepal, had a difficult time guiding editors like Gopal Thapaliya of Chhalfal, Kundan Aryal of Budhabar and Sambhu Shrestha of Drishti and finally decided to come out with his own paper.

Black Belt Nepal

The Girija government may have one more reason to take main opposition leader Madhav Kumar Nepal seriously: he was recently awarded a black belt in Tae-Kwondo. At a time when second-generation Congress leaders like Sher Bahadur Deuba have taken ill, the septuagenarian Koirala may have to contend with Nepal's martial-art tactics on his own. For someone still keen on wearing both political hats - those of party president and prime minister - this would perhaps be another way of proving that age is no bar in flexing your political muscles.