On instant reaction, it may appear, he has the right to be angry. But upon thinking coolly, we find that he has no reasons to be so. I find him victorious on all fronts. He said, for instance, he wanted a republic and he got it. Instead, should he not sympathize with Nepali Congress (NC) and especially its aging leader Girija Prasad Koirala (GPK) for painfully breaking away with their well-entrenched ideological faith in constitutional monarchy? Should he not understand their rejection to discuss the role of the president in the Constituent Assembly (CA) as a reflection of their old loyalty to new royalty? He should remember that the winner does not complain. It is often the loser who tends to grumble and Dahal has no reasons to do so.
The CA is yet another victory that Chairman Dahal achieved with much pride, thus dealing a devastating blow to the 1990 constitution, which was the prize and pride of NC. Hence, I can understand when NC, out of spite, disrupted the CA sessions but how can I understand the same kind of interruption to the body by those who gave birth to it? By doing so, the Maoists are providing their adversaries a free opportunity to laugh at them. It is ironic to find the obvious victors in the game bent on destroying their trophy.
Take all the major issues of today – federalism, secularism, proportional representation, the presence of UNMIN – and you will see that it is Dahal who had all his wishes fulfilled. But instead of being satisfied and happy, he looks so annoyed and threatens to revolt. I am at a loss to understand as to whom the revolt is directed against. A revolt against monarchy was understandable as it stood as a feudal fortress that would not break with a lesser push. But a similar revolt against the institution of presidentship is self-defeating because it is their own creation. As far as the incumbent president is concerned, Dr Ram Baran Yadav did not actually act all by himself. The Maoists know this better than we do.
Dahal should also coolly reflect on the issue of proportional representation that practically denied him an absolute majority in the CA. However, that did not happen because of his detractors but it was a result of his own enthusiasm. He has every reason to regret internally, although he will continue to defend it externally on grounds of principles. However, he should be pretty happy as proportional representation helped disadvantaged people to get to the national body.
As opposed to Dahal, NC President GPK has lost out on all his political agendas. He wanted to retain the 1990 constitution with a few changes but he could not. He even wished to preserve the restored parliament for long but did not succeed. As a last resort, he tried to save monarchy with a baby king. There too he failed. He never supported the concept of CA, federalism, secularism and proportional representation. There is no political agenda that he can own today.
Ironically, however, though he lost out on everything in principle, he has won almost everything in practice. He named Madhav Kumar Nepal as the PM and he became one. He named Sujata Koirala as the Foreign Minister and she became one. He has wished to make Sujata a Deputy Prime Minister and, then, the PM. She will, in all likelihood, become one. It is just a question of time.
But, here too, Dahal has reasons to smile for NC will be losing in commensurate with its president’s gain. The party is fast heading towards a division – pro- and anti-Sujata camps. The Mahasamiti controversy is nothing but a showdown between Sujata’s supporters and her opponents. She is bound to win in the power struggle for one good reason that it is the renowned corrupt ministers of old Congress cabinets who are spearheading the opposition camp against her. The other equally good reason for her potential victory is that Chairman Dahal is propping her up. It could be a great strategy on the part of the Maoists to catapult Sujata to the post of PM so as to push NC down the drain in the next general elections.
Dahal also has no reasons to be irritated with UML as well. It is because UML is a very flexible party. If it deserted Dahal on the Katawal issue, it can again side with him on other issues.
adityaman@hotmail.com
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