Off The Record (Spotlight Weekly)

Good News For Deuba

Deuba : Darling of Bhattarai

When former prime minister and founding member of Nepali Congress Krishna Prasad Bhattarai arrived at the Tribhuwan International Airport following his month long trip to India, former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and some of his followers were the first one present there to welcome him back. Known for his short and jocular remarks, former prime minister Bhattarai immediately declared that he considers Congress led by Deuba as a genuine Congress. Bhattarai’s remarks have suddenly boosted the morale of the Deuba Congress workers. This is not for the first time that Bhattarai made such comment. In his interview to Kantipur Television a few months ago, he had openly supported Deuba. However, at that point, the news was downplayed by the media.

A Wave Of Relief

Bhattarai : Silence is broken

Leader of Nepali Congress Democratic Sher Bahadur Deuba is a man of no patience. Although he went to receive his dear leader Bhattarai at the Airport, Deuba roamed the area anxiously. Since large number of senior leaders of his party were at the airport, it was impossible for Deuba to escape from airport. Tired and frustrated Deuba, however, was happy when his boss and mentor Krishna Prasad Bhattarai hugged him saying that Deuba has the legitimate right to be reinstated again. At a time when no body is defending his position, his guru and mentor Bhattarai has finally opened his mouth to his relief.

Pancha’s Party

Rastriya Prajatantra Party, a party of former Panchas, is known for its dual role. With the demise of Panchayat System, RPP was born as a twin representing two factions - hardliner and liberal. After the debacle in the first general elections, the two parties of former Panchas merged. Again in 1996, they divided into two camps - hardliner and liberal. This division did not last long and both parties united again. Most of the time the divisions took place between the two former prime ministers Surya Bahadur Thapa representing so called liberal faction and Lokendra Bahadur Chand representing so called hardliner faction. Interestingly, Pashupati SJB Rana emerged as another leader this time to replace prime minister Thapa. Rana who roamed from Chand Camp to Thapa, now leads a separate camp backed by former prime minister Chand. What results the changes in RPP intra-party equations will bring to the national politics remains to be seen.

Rule Under Protection

Whenever a political party becomes a ruling party, its leaders require police protections. Interestingly, the protection is provided not because of any threat from the Maoists or any other terrorist groups but because they require it to protect themselves from assaults from within. When the Rastriya Prajatantra Party was holding its central committee meeting last week, the government called police to restore the peace in the party office. In spite of claim by the party leaders, the police had to use force to maintain the order in the party premises. This was not the first occasion that such incident has occurred. When Nepali Congress was in power, police were often summoned to restore the order.

Nepal’s Lucknow Visit

After the infighting in the ruling Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), leaders of all major political parties are busy drawing up new strategies. Interestingly, CPN-UML leader Madhav Kumar Nepal, who was nominated as a candidate for prime minister by five agitating political parties, slipped to neighboring India to meet Maoist leaders. Three years ago, CPN-UML leader Nepal had gone to Siliguri to meet the Maoist leaders. Nobody knows what will be the consequences of Nepal’s meeting with the Maoist leaders.