Taking strong exception to Bhattarai´s recent interview to one of the major dailies, Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal asked for the opinions of party senior leaders on the issue and whether the party should take action against him.
“The way the party´s internal issues came out in the media is a matter of concern. So it is natural for the party to begin a debate on the issue,” said a Maoist Standing Committee member, requesting anonymity.[break]
In the interview, Bhattarai had stated that it is still possible to conclude the peace process and constitution drafting and the party should genuinely push for these, adding that Dahal and Senior Vice-chairman Mohan Baidya no longer have faith in the current political process and wanted to break it off completely.
On Tuesday, the session for putting forward views on the issue by all 16 Standing Committee members was completed. However, the majority of leaders opined that the party should develop some mechanism for managing intra-party theoretical and other disputes, but they remained silent on the issue of party action against Bhattarai.
Some influential party leaders from the party hardline camp sided with Bhattarai and demanded that the party focus on the organizational issues instead. “We have so many organizational issues to settle. I don´t get it why this issue is being blown up,” a Standing Committee member quoted party influential leader Netra Bikram Chand as saying Tuesday.
Chand is of the opinion that the party cannot successfully launch a “people´s revolt”, a political program aimed at seizing state power, without the support of the “urban middle class” and the educated, whom Bhattarai represents. Besides, Chand´s group is suspicious of Dahal, who may “dump the line of people´s revolt and betray them completely” after sidelining Bhattarai. The group wants to check the “middle line tendency” of Dahal, who maintains his supremacy vacillating between the lines of Baidya and Bhattarai.
Sources said Chand also lambasted Dahal for “deviating” from the decision of the Palungtar plenum. “The last Central Committee (CC) meeting was supposed to debate things. But the chairman´s document was endorsed without any discussion,” a leader quoted Chand as saying during the meeting. Party secretary CP Gajurel had also voiced a similar concern during the meeting Tuesday.
Party insiders said party Vice-chairman Narayankaji Shrestha and Girirajmani Pokharel had sided with Dahal.
“The Standing Committee will rather chart out a plan on how to manage intra-party disputes and differences. The chairman is not in a position to take action against Bhattarai as the majority of leaders have stood against his proposal,” said a senior Maoist leader close to Bhattarai.
It may be recalled that the party had suspended Bhattarai and party leaders Dinanath Sharma and Hisila Yami for their differences with Dahal and dissent over party policy just before the Chunwang meeting in 2005.
As per the decision of the last CC meeting, the party Standing Committee meeting was supposed to chart out an action-plan for implementation of the peace process and for reshuffling party responsibilities among the leaders.
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