As party leaders engage in talks with some of the dissident candidates, whose support or opposition can be decisive for the poll results, they are finding it difficult to persuade some of the dissidents.[break]
They talked to party district in-charge Shrawan Yadav, who has filed candidacy in Dhanusha-1in defiance of the party´s decision to name Ram Chandra Jha as its official candidate for the constituency. Yadav stood against the decision to field Jha as the latter joined the Maoist party only in April.
“Top leaders telephoned me today [Monday] and urged me to withdraw my candidacy. But I told them that I am under immense pressure from the general public and party members here in my constituency not to quit the race,” Yadav, whose home district is Dhanusha, told Republica over the phone.
He said that he would take a decision as per the suggestions of locals and party members and not as per the central leaders´ instructions. “I interacted with people in at least in nine villages today alone and everyone is pressing me not to withdraw my candidacy,” he said.
The candidacy of party dissident leader Gagan Bahadur Singh in Kanchanpur-1 has become a headache for senior leaders as he filed his candidacy even though the party had named Bina Magar, girlfriend of party chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal´s son Prakash, as the official candidate for the constituency.
In Kaski, dissidents have filed candidacy in constituencies no. 3 and 4. In Kaski-3, the party named Ramji Baral as the official candidate but local leader Maheshwar Adhikari challenged him. In Kaski-4, Rajendra Tamu filed his candidacy, challenging the party´s official candidate, Gupta Hamal.
“The row in Kaski-4 has been settled as Rajendra Tamu has agreed to withdraw from the race as per the suggestions of top leaders,” UCPN (Maoist) leader Khim Lal Devkota, who also took the initiative to settle intra-party disputes in Kaski, told Republica. “The dispute in Kaski-3 is also near conclusion as the dissident friends have shown a positive gesture towards settling the matter through mutual understanding.”
In Kathmandu-3 also, party local leader Ganga Tamang is contesting against the official candidate, Ganesh Regmi.
Similar is the case in Rasuwa district, where district leader Rajendra Gotame defied the party´s decision to name Prem Tamang as the official candidate.
Persuading the dissidents to withdraw from the race has proved to be a tough task for central level leaders as the dissidents have filed candidacy in over 20 constituencies.
“Disputes in some of the constituencies have been settled as the dissidents have agreed to withdraw from the race but more homework is needed to persuade some other disgruntled friends,” said Devkota.
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