KATHMANDU, April 2: The Madhav Kumar Nepal-led faction of the ruling CPN-UML has condemned the disciplinary action taken by the party leadership against its senior leaders Surendra Pandey and Ghanshyam Bhusal.

Speaking at the faction's standing committee meeting held in the capital, the UML leaders close to Madhav Kumar Nepal concluded that the action taken against the two leaders was a shameful event in the country's communist movement.

Bhim Rawal, a standing committee member of the party, said that the meeting has condemned the action taken against Pandey and Bhusal. "The action taken against Pandey and Bhusal is against the party principle, policy and statute. We strongly object to this totalitarian move taken by the party leadership," Rawal said.

On April 1, CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli suspended even the ordinary membership of party leaders Bhusal and Pandey, accusing them of carrying out anti-party activities.

Late last week, Oli took similar actions against senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal and Vice-chairman Bhim Rawal for "working against party interests". 

Miffed at the Oli-led faction's unilateral actions, the Madhav Kumar Nepal-led faction has already held a national gathering of party cadres and leaders in Kathmandu while it shunned the party's parliamentary party meeting and central committee meeting called at the convenience of the rival faction. The Madhav Kumar Nepal-led faction has also already formed the party's parallel committees across the country.

The CPN-UML, which was revived after the Supreme Court's verdict to invalidate the then Nepal Communist Party born out of the merger between the then CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Center) in 2018, has witnessed a serious rift within the party as the Oli-led faction is taking actions one after another against the leaders of the Madhav Kumar Nepal-led faction accusing them of being involved in factional politics.

On March 12, the Oli-led faction nominated 23 new members to the party’s Central Committee (CC). A meeting of the party’s CC members close to Oli made a decision to nominate 23 former Maoist leaders who chose to join the UML as CC members.

The Oli-led faction has sought clarification from the leaders belonging to the Madhav Kumar Nepal-led faction for getting ‘involved in factional politics by going against the party’s interests’. However, the rival faction has said that the party is facing trouble due to Oli's growing hegemony.

The Oli-led faction has taken a series of actions against the Madhav Kumar Nepal-led faction which was earlier taking side with the Dahal-led faction when the Nepal Communist Party existed until the Supreme Court's verdict to invalidate the NCP. 

Despite strong warnings and threats from Chairperson KP Sharma Oli, the Madhav Kumar Nepal-led faction has continued its parallel activities in recent weeks. With the growing squabbling between the two factions, the ruling CPN-UML is on the verge of a split.

 
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