About half the party´s lawmakers, led by parliamentary party leader Bijaya Gachchhadar, are in favor of joining a coalition led by the UML and NC.
But the other half led by party chairman Yadav and party co-chair J P Gupta have insisted on looking at other options as well. A party insider says the Yadav camp is not keen on supporting the NC-UML coalition since Dahal has offered Yadav leadership of the next government and has assured him of his party´s support.
Lending credence to this theory Yadav on Thursday tabled four options before the party for its future course of action: Joining the UML-led government after working out a common position on Madhes; the party leading a government with Maoist backing; supporting the NC-UML coalition government from outside; and joining a government under Maoist leadership.
"The Maoist assurance to our party is the prime minister´s ploy to stop it from jumping for the Nepali Congress-UML coalition," alleged an MPRF leader close to Gachchhadar. The leader claimed Dahal assured Yadav on Wednesday that the Maoists would back a government led by him.
Yadav and Gupta met with the prime minister early on Wednesday.
"Many central committee members have started arguing that the party should be ready to lead the new coalition if it gets Maoist backing," said Ram Janam Choudhari, the party´s chief whip in parliament.
Choudhari said the party´s ongoing Central Committee meeting could continue for a few more days as only a few of the members have spoken as of late Thursday evening.
Members loyal to Yadav have urged the party leadership not to miss the chance to lead the government while members close to Gachchhadar have termed it a Maoist ploy.
These differences in the party are not just incidental. Formed by democrats, technocrats and leftists, the Madhesi People´s Rights Forum has always remained a divided lot.
Party chairman Upendra Yadav comes from a communist background and tends to mingle well with the Maoists.
Another group of leaders, including Gachchhadar, Sarat Singh Bhandari and Ram Janam Choudhari, come from democratic backgrounds and want the party to always maintain a distance from the communists.
And the third group compromises businessmen, former bureaucrats, technocrats and service holders who received some largesse from the state in the past but feel discriminated against.
The complex foundation of the NGO-turned party is showing cracks now that it faces hard choices.
yuvraj@myrepublica.com
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