They formed a two-member committee comprising Dev Gurung from CPN-Maoist and Hit Raj Pandey from UCPN (Maoist) to resolve the disputes within the next 10 days. [break]
The two parties had earlier formed a joint taskforce and it held several rounds of talks. The new team will give continuity to that work and complete it, it is stated.
The row between the two parties concerns property worth millions. Maoist leaders say the party owns party offices and other property in some 50 districts, including buildings in some and plots of land in others.
The two Maoist parties had agreed to share the property in accordance with the ratio of their members in the party committees concerned.
“The cases will be resolved. Reconciliation will be effected, with a commitment not to let disputes remain in future,” reads a press statement issued by UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and CPN (Maoist) Chairman Mohan Baidya on Saturday.
The dispute mainly concerned the ruling Maoist party headquarters at Perisdanda and the Chitwan party office. In the clash between the two parties in Chitwan, some cadres were injured, and cases were registered against each other. The Chitwan party office was captured by the CPN-Maoist.A majority of the party leaders in Chitwan had joined the new Maoist party.
Many have wondered why all this dispute began from the home district of UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and of the new party´s General Secretary, Ram Bahadur Thapa, among other senior Maoist leaders. Questions abound as to whether they fought over property or the leaders´ prestige.
Maoist leaders say the office buildings of the party and the land occupied by them in Bharatpur, Chitwan are worth over 40 million rupees. So the fight is basically over property.
But other leaders and many who know the Maoists better believe that the political reason is more important than anything financial. Maoist watchers argue that the invaluable property might be one reason but more than that Dahal and Thapa associate control over the Chitwan office with their personal prestige.
After the clash last June, the Chitwan office building was taken under police control.
Maoist leaders believe that Dahal and other top Maoists take Chitwan as a very important and strategic district after the capital. They believe that Chitwan has historically remained crucial for leftist political parties when it comes to expanding their organizations while underground as well as in open politics.
Dahal has time and again expressed his willingness to project himself as a leader from Chitwan. Last May, Dahal, while addressing a mass gathering, committed himself not to allow the division of Chitwan while delineating the country into provinces.
Maoist leaders argue that Dahal never wants to see the new party capture the district office in his own home district. That would boost the morale of cadres in the Baidya camp.
Interestingly, the party head office at Perisdanda is registered in the name of Shiv Kattel, who is close to the Baidya-led Maoist party.
“The loan taken for the construction of the party head office at Perisdanda will be settled through Shiv Kattel. The building and land ownership also will be transferred,” reads a statement.
Earlier, the UCPN (Maoist) had tried to capture the office of the National Employees Federation Nepal (NEFN) in Kathmandu on June 21. The new party commands a majority in the organization of government employees. The office was taken under police control.
After the party split, the CPN-Maoist had left the Perisdanda office and took over the central offices of sister wings at Buddha Nagar and the Newa State Committee office at Kupondole. Almost all the chiefs of the sister wings are with the CPN-Maoist.
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