Gautam’s risky political journey

Published On: August 17, 2022 05:44 PM NPT By: Tapendra Karki

KATHMANDU, August 17: National Assembly member Bamdev Gautam, who has been out of the national politics for some time now, has come into the limelight again after he announced to participate in the federal election with the Maoist Center's election symbol–the hammer and sickle insider the circle. He has come into the limelight because he plans to participate in the parliamentary election with a strong desire to become elected as the prime minister.

Gautam said that he had taken the election symbol of the CPN (Maoist Center) on Tuesday after his victory in the upcoming House of Representatives election was assured. Gautam left his old constituency and chose Pyuthan even as his four-year term as a member of the National Assembly was left. Gautam, who won from Pyuthan in the 2070 election, chose Pyuthan this time as well. In the election held in 2074 BS, Gautam was defeated.

If there is an alliance between the ruling parties, it is not possible for the UML to easily win the elections in Pyuthan. In the local level elections, UML seems to have got votes close to that of the alliance. UML won two of the nine local levels. At the local level, the UML did not appear weak in the election results despite the alliance between the Maoists and the CPN (United Socialist) Party along with the Congress.

Nepali Congress (NC) has won 3 mayors and 4 deputy mayors with 22 wards in Pyuthan.

The Maoist Center has won chief and 1 deputy chief in 3 municipalities with 10 wards. UML has won chief and deputy chief in 2 municipalities with 20 wards. UML was in second place among all the other places. “UML's dominance in Pyuthan is still there. Because of the alliance, the Nepali Congress and the CPN (Maoist Center) won the elections at the local level by sharing seats. In the federal parliament, the situation is different," said a UML leader from Pyuthan.

The journey of Gautam, who is preparing to contest the election from Pyuthan under the alliance, is very risky. In 2074 BS, Gautam chose Bardiya considering Pyuthan to be not secure. But he was defeated by Sanjay Gautam of Nepali Congress (NC). After the 2074 BS election, Gautam has not been to Pyuthan. He was busy in national politics," said a leader close to Gautam in the past.

If Gautam goes to Pyuthan, there will be an election meeting with two people who were once close to him and worked in his secretariat. UML Politburo Member Surya Thapa and Pyuthan District Chapter President Bijay Biraj Bista were once close to Gautam. Thapa played a major role in the election of 2070 for Gautam to win the election from Pyuthan. Similarly, when Gautam was the Deputy Prime Minister, Bista worked in his personal secretariat. Currently both are in Pyuthan.

Even his close friends have stopped trusting Gautam as he keeps changing his speech from time to time. Gautam created CPN (Marxist Leninist) by splitting the CPN-UML in 2054 BS. After Gautam's party failed to win a single seat in the 2056 BS General Elections, he returned to the UML in 2057 BS.

Since then, Gautam, who has been active in the UML, became Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister three times from UML. Gautam, who is very unstable in political life, approached the Election Commission on Tuesday and claimed that he took the election symbol of the Maoist Center because the alliance was the base to win the election.

Gautam said that he is sure to lose if he competes with the CPN-UML election symbol. He claimed that the alliance was behind the hammer and sickle and that the alliance was at the forefront in many ways. “If I go with the sun symbol, I will lose. Hence, I'm in it to win. The basis for winning is alliance. The alliance is behind the hammer and sickle, the alliance is ahead of other alliances and parties in many ways,” he said.