KATHMANDU, Dec 7: Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) leader Janardan Sharma was greeted with black flags in his home district of Rukum West on Friday, marking a turbulent return following his break from the Maoist Centre.
The protest erupted as soon as Sharma exited Salle Airport around 10 AM, where a group of around 20 youths affiliated with the Nepali Communist Party and former Maoist Centre cadres staged a demonstration, chanting slogans and waving black flags against him.
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The demonstrators were led by Man Bahadur Chadara, former chair of the Maoist Centre’s Aathbiskot municipal committee. They accused Sharma of “betraying the people and martyrs” by abandoning the Maoist Centre and forming a new political outfit, the PDP.
Sharma had arrived in Rukum West to attend a youth gathering organized by his new party. He is also scheduled to inaugurate the party’s district office later today. The office will operate from the building previously used by the Maoist Centre’s district committee, now taken over by the PDP.
This was Sharma’s first visit to his home district since the party split, and the protest highlights growing political tensions at the grassroots level following the realignment.
