With his entry into Akhanda Party, Mahat, who became active in politics only after the UCPN (Maoist) joined peace process following the end of the decade long war, has instantly become the district committee vice chairman of the new party. In addition, he has been proposed as a candidate under the proportional quota for the upcoming CA elections.[break]
Like Mahat, many district-level leaders of major political parties like the UCPN (Maoist), the Nepali Congress (NC) and the CPN (UML) are now joining new and fringe political parties, which offer them major posts and tickets to CA elections. These include leaders who see no future in big parties.
Along with Mahat, Badri Bahadur KC of NC, whose father was killed during the insurgency due to his political belief, has also joined Akhanda Party. The new party, which was registered in the Elections Commission (EC) only this year, has give KC a ticket to contest the CA elections from constituency-1 of Baglung district. While some have received tickets to contest the elections, some have been chosen as candidates under proportional quotas by the new parties.
Yam Bahadur Charmakar, who was with the CPN (UML) until recently, has now joined the Ashok Rai-led Federal Socialist Party (FSP). Charmakar has become a central committee member of FSP. FSP has also fielded his name as a candidate under proportional quota.
In Parbat, Yugnath Regmi of NC, Sarshwoti Bhandari and Indra Bahadur Khatri of the CPN-UML, Nar Bahadur Karki of the Rashtriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) have also joined Akhanda Party. In Myagdi, Dambar Bahadur Baniya of CPN-UML and Mukti Roka Magar of CPN-UML have now joined FSP.
Those who have switched their sides say that they joined new parties as they were disillusioned by their old parties. But, in private, they admit that they were lured by offers of major posts and tickets to contest the polls. A leader who recently switched his said, “Had I remained in the same old party, I would have never reached the leadership level. Now, I have also have got chance to contest the elections.”
Some defectors say the rise in the number of district-level leaders who are leaving old and big parties for new and fringe parties is also due to the central leadership´s failure to address their grievances. They say their old parties did not live up to their ideologies, creating space for new parities.
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