MPRF Chairman Upendra Yadav tried his best to block the appointment of Gachchhadar in the cabinet but to no avail, leaving the party´s establishment faction to contemplate on possible action against Gachchhadar and withdrawing his party´s support to the coalition government.
At the eleventh hour on Thursday, Yadav wrote a one-page letter to the prime minister asking him not to induct anyone who is not officially recommended by the party into the cabinet.
The letter was an indirect reference to the recommendation made earlier on Thursday afternoon by Gachchhadar on who should be represented in the cabinet from his party. He had also produced signatures of a majority of his party lawmakers and of members from the political committee of his party.
Soon after the swearing in of Gachchhadar, Renu Yadav, who is a staunch supporter of Yadav, told myrepublica.com, “We are going to call the meeting of the central working committee in a day or two to decide action against Gachchhadar.”
Unable to resist pressure from Gachchhadar and Koirala, who played an instrumental role in making Nepal the prime minister after the fall of the Maoist-led government, Nepal appointed Gachchhadar as his deputy in the cabinet around three hours after he received a formal request letter from Yadav.
The induction of Gachchhadar in the cabinet is a serious blow to the Yadav-faction who is in now minority in both in the parliamentary party and the ten-member political committee of the party. The committee is the apex body of the party. Gachchhadar claimed that he enjoys support from six out of ten members in the party´s apex body.
But Renu Yadav claimed that 36 out of 53 MPRF lawmakers are still with the party chairman. But Pramod Prasad Gupta, who is close to Gachchhadar refuted Yadav´s claim.
When asked about possible split of party, Yadav said, “The party will remain intact. But it is sure now that some party leaders will now leave the party following the induction of Gachchhdar in the cabinet.”
If the party withdraws its support as indicated by Renu Yadav, it would be mean problem to the hard-earned coalition led by Nepal.
In the letter to the prime minister, Yadav said, “Induction of any name into the cabinet without an official recommendation from the party will be against the spirit of the constitution. If such a situation is created, it would not be acceptable to our party.”
Earlier in the afternoon, Gachchhadar recommended his own name to the prime minister for induction in the cabinet.
Earlier on Thursday morning, Nepali Congress President Girija Prasad Koirala asked Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal over the phone to appoint Gachchhadar as deputy prime minister in recognition to his role in the success of the UML-led coalition.
Koirala made the request to Nepal after he held a meeting with Gachchhadar at Koirala residence at Maharajgunj. Nc leader Khum Bahadur Khadka accompanied Gachchhadar during the meeting.
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