BIRGUNJ, June 10: Supporters of the Bijaya Kumar Gachchhadar and Upendra Yadav factions of the Madhesi People’s Rights Forum (MPRF) clashed with each other Wednesday afternoon in Birgunj, where the party’s Central Committee meeting called by the Yadav faction was underway. [break]
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Three Constituent Assembly (CA) members of the MPRF, Durga Devi Mahato, Kalawati Paswan and Karima Begam, and party cadres were injured in the clash that ensued after supporters of the Gachchhadar faction chanted slogans outside the meeting venue at a local hotel.
The clash took a nasty turn when supporters of the Yadav faction chased away the rival group with wooden sticks and targeted them with bricks. A motorcycle Begam was riding vandalized in the clash.
The situation was brought under control after deployment of police at the clash site.
Organizing a press conference in the evening, the CA members beaten up in the afternoon said that they are hurt by the tendency of Madhesi leaders to hire gangsters to beat up Madhesi women.
“They rained batons down on us to vent their dissatisfaction,” said Paswan. “Security personnel deployed nearby did not come to our help.”
Paswan said that she did not have any alternative to crying when an unruly mob dragged her in the middle of the road.
Durga Devi, another CA member injured in the clash, alleged that Upendra Yadav was not a leader of Madhesi people. “He spent almost nine months visiting abroad at expense to state coffers,” she said. “He has now become a treacherous leader instead of a messiah of Madhesis.”
She alleged that they were attacked in a planned manner as they did not sign papers as asked by party chairman Yadav to show a majority in his favor.
Speaking at a separate press conference in the evening, Chairman Yadav said that it was anarchic to stage a demonstration outside a meeting venue. He said he was unaware of the beating up of the CA members.
Meanwhile, issuing a press statement in the evening, the Gachchhadar faction of the MPRF said that their attention has been drawn to the incident in which CA members and party activists supporting their faction were beaten up.
The faction alleged that the Yadav faction of the party had employed Maoist-affiliated Young Communist League (YCL) cadres to beat up their supporters and parliamentarians.
“It is unfortunate that hooliganism has taken place against a political rally staged in a peaceful manner for the unity of the party,” said the statement signed by Jitendra Dev. “We strongly condemn the incident.”
Dev is spokesperson of the MPRF Central Committee.
The Gachchhadar faction has also warned the Yadav faction not to repeat similar incidents in future. It has also asked the government to form a probe committee to look into the incident and punish the guilty.
Gachchhadar faction petitioning EC meaningless
Earlier, before the start of the CC meeting in Birgunj, MPRF Chairman Yadav said that the number of central committee members of the party filing a petition at the Election Commission (EC) Tuesday to claim the party’s name, flag and symbol was inadequate.
Altogether 16 of the 35 central committee members, led by parliamentary party leader Bijaya Kumar Gachchhadar, had filed a petition at the EC on Tuesday. “A majority has been shown by including the names of even those expelled by the party’s central committee,” he said. “That is meaningless.”
He said that the number shown would have no meaning as more than 25 active members of the central committee have been attending the CC meeting in Birgunj.
The names of the 26 Central Committee members are:
1. Chairman Upendra Yadav
2. General Secretary Ramsahay Yadav
3. Secretary Ratneshwor Lal Kayastha
4. Treasurer Renu Yadav
5. Lalbabu Raut
6. Mohammad Khalid Siddique
7. Mohammad Istiyaque
8. Abdul Jabbar
9. Ram Lal Sutiyar
10. Jay Prakash Yadav ´Rahul´
11. Rabindra Yadav
12. Ranju Verma
13. Dev Narayan Yadav
14. Ganesh Yadav
15. Sahashram Yadav
16. Shivaji Prasad Yadav
17. Kabuli Paswan
18. Bijay Yadav
19. Krishnadev Yadav
20. BP Yadav
21. Umesh Lal Dash
22. Arjun Thapa
23. Jagadish Singh
24. Nandan Datta
25. Dr Rambir Ray
26. Yogendra Sahni
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‘Nepal, Koirala are agents of India’
Chairman Yadav also termed Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and Nepali Congress President and former prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala as Indian agents. He claimed that the two party leaders have a main role in bringing the Madhesi People’s Rights Forum to the verge of a split.
Asked if India had any role in the party´s crisis, he said Nepal and Koirala had a hand in it. “Both these two leaders are Indian agents. So you can interpret whose hand is behind it,” Yadav told reporters.
Factions hold rival CC meetings
A central committee meeting of the MPRF faction led by Yadav concluded in Birgunj Wednesday by passing a nine-point decision.
The meeting demanded formation of a national government for writing a new constitution and promoting inclusive democracy in the country.
The meeting also decided to take disciplinary action against four others, besides the seven CC members including the party’s parliamentary leader Bijaya Kumar Gachchhadar. The four are Rabindra Thakur, Nasir Siddhiqi, Asha Chaturbedi and Sanjaya Kumar Sah. The meeting formed a three-member election committee to pick a new parliamentary party leader.
Meanwhile, another MPRF faction led by Gachchhadar also held its Central Committee meeting in Kathmandu Wednesday.
According to the party’s central leader Jitendra Dev, the CC meeting formed a three-member committee to look for a new party office.
Dev said the meeting also formed a five-member committee with Gachchhadar as head to finalize the power-sharing in the new government.
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