Saptari – Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba has been pressured by the party’s non-establishment group not to form an alliance with Prime Minister KP Oli’s group at the center and in the states. In a meeting convened by Deuba to discuss the state government alliance, he said that the alliance with Oli would be suicidal.
After the Pushpa Kamal Dahal-Madhav Kumar Nepal faction of the CPN (Maoist) filed a no-confidence motion against the Chief Minister of Province 1 and Bagmati, the Nepali Congress is in a tug of war. The Congress is decisive in both the states to make the no-confidence motion successful or unsuccessful. In order to attract the Congress, both the groups of the CPN (Maoist) have proposed to appoint a Chief Minister in one of the two.Deuba had called a meeting of Congress central members of Bagmati on Friday and State 2 on Wednesday to discuss the issue. In both the meetings, some members of the establishment and non-establishment parties were protesting against Oli’s move in the streets and questioned the leadership on how the people would react if they joined the same group in the state.
Most of the leaders, including senior Congress leader Ram Chandra Poudel and former general secretary Krishna Prasad Sitaula, had argued that they would not agree with the Oli group ideologically and politically under any circumstances. On the other hand, Deuba had hinted at an alliance with Prime Minister Oli saying that the Congress was a political party and should move forward by behaving like a political party. A statement issued by the party’s central office on Friday denied the allegations. The statement said that it would be practical and democratic to allow the state parliamentary parties to take necessary decisions on the formation of the state government.Senior leader Poudel had objected at the meeting stating that the Center should not send a policy decision to the state government as no state working committee has been formed. He feared that the parliamentary parties were being empowered to make decisions in their own interest. He stressed that the responsibility should be given to the parliamentary party only after the party gives guidance.During the meeting, it was informed about the proposal made by the establishment party to support Chief Minister Sherdhan Rai in State 1 and to give the post of Chief Minister to the Nepali Congress in Bagmati. In Bagmati, the Oli faction was ready to support the Congress by forcing Chief Minister Dormani Poudel to resign. Deuba’s choice is also Bagmati province. Indra Bahadur Baniya is the leader of the parliamentary party in Bagmati. Oli’s priority is State 1 over Bagmati.
As the efficiency of Bagmati Chief Minister Poudel has been repeatedly questioned by the parliamentarians, it seems that Oli will have to choose one state. Leaders of non-establishment parties, on the other hand, said that the Dahal-Nepal faction had long ago proposed the Congress to be the chief minister by choosing from two states.Congress general secretary Shashank Koirala had recently told Kantipur that he had been suggesting the president to join the Dahal-Nepal group as the main competition was with the Oli group at the local level. He said that they would also agree to choose Bagmati as per the wishes of President Deuba when a Chief Minister had to be selected as per the proposal of the Dahal-Nepal group. The non-establishment parties have already informed the Dahal-Nepal group through an informal level that they will take Bagmati as the Chief Minister and assist them in Province 1.Before the meeting with the central members, Deuba had separate discussions with senior leader Poudel, General Secretary Koirala and former General Secretary Sitaula. During the discussion, senior leader Poudel and former general secretary Sitaula warned Deuba not to take wrong decision, saying that forming a government in alliance with Oli should not be considered in principle. Poudel said that Oli’s move to dissolve the House of Representatives was unconstitutional and undemocratic.A similar statement was made by Sitaula at a meeting two days ago. “Supporting Oli’s government at the center and his allies at the state level means supporting Oli’s three-year misgovernance and unconstitutional move to dissolve the House of Representatives,” Sitaula told Kantipur. It would be suicidal to form an alliance for the sake of private power and it would have a big impact on the general elections two years later.
Sitaula said that it was the religion of the opposition to vote in favor of the no-confidence motion against the government. “Millions of activists have taken to the streets carrying black flags and banners against Oli’s unconstitutional move. The party has decided that Oli has lost the political and moral ground to rule because he did not work in the interest of the country, ‘he added. The Congress falls into extreme opportunism and power interests. This is what I have already told the chairman. ‘Former General Minister Prakash Man Singh, who was present at the meeting, said that the idea of protesting in the streets against Prime Minister Oli’s unconstitutional move and forming an alliance with the same group would be apolitical. “We are protesting against Oli’s move across the country. “If we take such a decision, the people will not evaluate the Congress properly,” he told Kantipur.The non-establishment parties have stressed on the need to form an alliance with the Dahal-Nepal group of the CPN (Maoist) which is fighting against Oli’s move to dissolve the House of Representatives. Joint General Minister Prakash Sharan Mahat said that it was just a matter of having their own views on the formation of the state government. “The party has not taken any decision or conclusion yet,” he said.Central members Navindra Raj Joshi, Dina Upadhyay, Gagan Thapa, Dhyangovind Ranjit and others were present in the discussion. Joshi and Thapa, who are on the other side of the establishment, also suggested to the chairperson not to take such a decision saying that it would not be in principle and practical to join the alliance with Prime Minister Oli.
In the meeting of State 1, the leaders of non-establishment also stressed that they should not go in alliance with Oli. Former General Secretary Sitaula had urged not to form a government in alliance with the Oli group. He said that the next phase of street agitation should be announced immediately from the meeting of office bearers. Arguing that there would be no re-establishment of the House of Representatives and no election, he said that the Congress should not leave the streets.BP, Ganeshman Singh and Krishna Prasad Bhattarai were ready to go to jail when King Mahendra made a coup in 2017 BS. Even now, Oli’s move to dissolve the constitution is a similar coup. We should not accept an alliance with Oli that goes against the fundamental principles and ideals of the party, ‘said Singh.
Deuba said that the decision would be taken only after holding discussions with the leaders and parliamentarians of the parliamentary parties in the state.