Addressing the mass, Dr Bhattarai also looked aggressive and said he was ready to be a "martyr", but "no one can ever isolate him from the people." [break]
"They probably want to make me Bhimsen Thapa [first prime minister of Nepal who died in jail]; I am ready to share his fate. But no one should ever dare to me isolate from the people," Bhattarai told the angry mass.
The fresh round of intra-party disputes started after Vice-chairman Narayankaji Shrestha, who is also the Constituent Assembly (CA) member from Gorkha, was invited to attend as the chief guest in the meeting of the District Development Council. As per the convention, all CA members are invited in the meeting as chief guests, and leaders close to Bhattarai claimed that Bhattarai should have been invited as chief guest. All CA members from Gorkha are from the Maoist party.
"But the party´s leadership in the district hatched a conspiracy and invited Shrestha as chief guest in an apparent bid to humiliate Bhattarai. And that created the problem," said a senior leader close to Bhattarai. The party leadership in the district is loyal to Dahal, while Bhattarai has a good hold at the grassroots level. Bhattarai from Gorkha is the leader to win the election with highest score in the CA election.
The local party leaders loyal to Bhattarai had forced the District Development Council to change its decision and invite Bhattarai as chief guest, instead.
In a show of strength, thousands of supporters cheered and clapped when the motorcade of Bhattarai arrived at Abu Khaireni in Gorkha.
Over two dozen four-wheelers and 150 two-wheelers had escorted Bhattarai´s vehicle from Abu Khaireni to Gorkha district headquarters.
Addressing the gathering at the district headquarters, Bhattarai equated the move from his rival camps as "Mandale tendency" which meant the tactics played by the goons of the former autocratic Panchayat regime.
"People brought down the Panchayat regime; they brought to heel the former King Gynendra; and now is the turn these neo-Madales," he said.
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