In Kathmandu, the party establishment is holding a function at the Durbar Square amid much fanfare at 1 pm, while leaders and cadres from the faction led by Senior Vice-chairman Mohan Baidya are gathering at Shanti Batika at 2 pm. [break]
Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal will address the function at Kathmandu Durbar Square and Baidya and General Secretary Ram Bahadur Thapa will attend the Shanti Batika program.
According to Mahendra Shrestha, Kathmandu district secretary of the party, party cadres from the party establishment will march toward the venue from seven different places.
Party insiders say the holding of separate functions to mark the same day clearly indicates the deepening intra-party crisis that may trigger a vertical split in the party.
But leaders close to the Baidya faction argue that it is quite natural for the party that has two separate tactical lines for realizing the party´s revolutionary goals.
“There are already two documents concerning the party´s tactical line. So it is not unnatural for us to hold separate programs and inform people of our views,” said Central Committee (CC) member Maheshwar Dahal who is close to Baidya.
Dahal said that his faction will tell the people “what type of peace and constitution” his faction wants and inform the people about the struggle programs. The formal organizer of the program is, however, the recently formed political front led by Maoist Secretary CP Gajurel. Some fringe leftist and ethnic parties have been inducted into the front.
Similarly, the leaders from the party establishment argued that the function to be held at Durbar Square is the official program. “The program to be held at Durbar Square will be attended by those in favor of peace and constitution,” said Kumar Paudel from the party establishment faction.
He claimed that the function at Shanti Batika has been organized by a minority faction. “Holding such a program is against the principle of democratic centralism,” said Paudel.
Both factions have ruled out the possibility of clashes between the factions or untoward incidents Friday.
Related story
NC meeting: Let's end factions and sub-factions in party
