KATHMANDU, July 14: At a time when Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP) is on the verge of splitting, the two factions in the party are engaged in a tug of war to pull leaders who have not disclosed their loyalty to either faction to their side.
Both factions have been holding separate Central Committee meetings. JSP’s Federal Council Chairman Dr Baburam Bhattarai and leaders supporting him have called a meeting of the Central Committee in Kathmandu to discuss the issue.
Similarly, a meeting of the Executive Committee Chairman Upendra Yadav faction has started from Wednesday in Birgunj. Both factions claimed that the majority of central members participated in their meeting. But some leaders did not attend the meeting of both factions.
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Rajkishor Yadav, Ramnaresh Raya Yadav, Amrita Agrahari and other leaders did not attend the meeting held by both factions. Earlier, these three leaders were considered close to Dr Bhattarai. Both sides are trying to make the neutral leaders closer to them. Both sides are attracting the leaders who are neutral to show the influence of their side.
JSP has 487 central members. JSP executive committee member Manish Suman said that 280 central members attended the Birgunj meeting. "More than 280 central members are present in our meeting," said Suman, "This is more than the majority."
He said that the meeting called in Kathmandu was not an official meeting of the party. “Action may be taken against the central members who did not participate in the official meeting of the party and participated in the meeting called in Kathmandu to harm the party,” he added.
On the other hand, Ramesh Yadav, a member of the executive committee and a leader close to Bhattarai, claimed that 230 central members were present at the meeting in Kathmandu. “The meeting held in Kathmandu is the official meeting of the party. As many as 230 central members are present in this meeting,” said Yadav, “This confirms that we have a clear majority.”
Central level leaders including Mahendra Yadav, Damber Khatiwada, Ganganarayan Shrestha and Prashant Singh have been active in the meeting convened by the Bhattarai faction. Some of the leaders who actively supported Bhattarai until the local elections have not yet attended the meeting in Kathmandu. Istiyaq Rai and Pradip Yadav changed sides and are in the Yadav faction. These two leaders have been made ministers by Executive Chairman Yadav. After the local level election, JSP has come close to splitting.
