Internal Disputes and Divisions Plague Nepali Leftist Parties

Not only Nepal's major leftist parties, but even small parties are facing an interesting series of internal disputes and divisions. They, who claim to represent the working class, laborers, farmers, and backward sections of society based on communist ideology, ideals, and guiding principles, are now accused of forgetting their class base. The disease of belittling others to elevate oneself is not new among leftist parties. The tendency to split parties and form factions and sub-factions using jargon like ultra-leftist, rightist, dogmatic, revisionist, comprador, traitor, opportunist has been prevalent since the party's inception. The Communist Party of Nepal was formed in 2006 under the leadership of founder Pushpa Lal Shrestha. From the party's establishment until the restoration of multi-party democracy in 2046 BS, there was a rush to form leftist parties in Nepal, influenced by the ideas of global communist leaders like Karl Marx, Lenin, Engels, Stalin, and Mao Zedong. At that time, party splits occurred due to serious disagreements on ideology, principles, direction, and programs. However, after entering parliamentary politics from 2048 BS to 2082 BS, it is discussed in political circles that leftist parties have deviated from their ideals, ideology, and principles due to the extreme focus on power. Oli-Prachanda Under Pressure to Cede Leadership Currently, within the largest communist faction, the CPN-UML, the issue of leadership transfer and party restructuring has become very complex. After the Genji movement last year, in the House of Representatives elections held in February, the UML saw its vote share drop by nearly 1.45 million compared to the previous election, shrinking to 25 seats. The government led by Chairman KP Sharma Oli failed to prevent the Genji movement on Bhadra 23 and the destructive events of the 24th. With Oli failing in both these incidents, pressure is mounting within the party for him to pave the way on moral grounds. The election review and party restructuring task force had suggested that Oli should resign based on these conclusions. However, Oli has outright rejected the task force's proposal. In the ongoing central committee meeting that began in Lalitpur on Monday, leaders have also raised this issue. Meanwhile, leaders have also pressured Prachanda, who leads the Maoist faction (including Unified Socialist), to respectfully step down from leadership. In the elections, the CPN, which went with 25 constituent parts, saw its vote share drop by nearly 400,000 compared to the previous election (including the then Maoist and Unified Socialist), shrinking to 17 seats. The CPN had decided to hold a general convention in November to make decisions on party policy and leadership. However, ward, local, district, and provincial conventions could not be held within the predetermined time. To discuss this very issue, the CPN has called a central coordination committee meeting on Tuesday. The meeting has formed a three-member talks team under the leadership of leader Dev Gurung for leftist unity. The members include spokesperson Prakash Jwala and Ganga Narayan Shrestha. Similar Situation in Small Leftist Parties In the 34 years since 2048 BS, leftist parties have split dozens of times due to disagreements with party policy and leadership. The CPN-ML, formed by a split from the UML in 2054 BS, still exists. This party, which considers Marxism and Leninism as its guiding principles, is still led by CP Mainali. Many parties have emerged due to disagreements with the policies adopted by the Malé, but General Secretary Mainali is not in favor of uniting with any party in the current situation. He insists that unity can only be achieved after a serious review of the distortions seen in leftist parties since 2048 BS. Mainali stated that functional unity can be achieved with leftist, democratic, and patriotic forces whose issues align with nationalism and people's livelihood. After the People's Movement of 2062/063 BS, which ended the monarchy and established a federal democratic republic, a group led by Ashok Rai, Rajendra Shrestha, and others separated from the UML. In the 2074 BS elections, it merged with Upendra Yadav's party to form the Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal. After the 2079 BS elections, a dispute arose over joining the government, leading to the formation of the Janata Samajwadi Party under Rai's leadership. In 2078 BS, the UML split, and the CPN (Unified Socialist) was formed under the leadership of former General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal. This party merged with the then CPN (Maoist Centre) led by Prachanda to form the Nepali Communist Party. Bamdev Gautam, Bhim Rawal, who separated from the UML, and Rajendra Shrestha and others who separated from the JSP, have now merged into the CPN. The series of splits from the Maoist faction is also long. In 2051 BS, the CPN Ekata Kendra Masal led by Narayan Kaji Shrestha, which split, merged with the Maoist party in 2065 BS. In 2069 BS, a group led by Mohan Baidya 'Kiran' separated from the Unified CPN (Maoist) led by Prachanda. Baidya, after reorganizing the party as CPN-Maoist for some time, could not run the party for long. The Netra Bikram Chand 'Biplav' group separated from that party. Biplav, after forming the CPN, has now reorganized the old party CPN (Maoist). As the party decided to abandon the policy of seizing power through integrated revolution and participate in parliamentary elections, eight to nine groups have already separated. Those who have separated from the party are either in the Revolutionary Communist Party led by Baidya or have merged into the CPN. One faction is led by Dharmendra Bastola. In the last election, the Maoist party could not even cross 25,000 votes. The Maoist party's secretariat meeting is ongoing since Tuesday to discuss election review, the Bhote Koshi flood, and recent political developments. Baidya, who resigned from leadership due to ill health, is resting at home. Currently, CP Gajurel, the General Secretary of the Revolutionary Communist Party, is suffering from Alzheimer's disease, causing party activities to halt. Leader Hukum Singh informed that preparations are underway to call a secretariat meeting this week. According to Singh, the organization is in the process of strengthening its campaign. The CPN led by Dharmendra Bastola, which separated from Biplav's party, has also split. Bastola, who became General Secretary at the Ninth General Convention held in Magh two years ago, has been declared expelled by the majority of party members. Bastola is accused of activities contrary to the party's procedures, principles, and discipline. He is also accused of repeatedly postponing the national conference, issuing unilateral statements against the organizational procedures of the presidium, and issuing circulars to take action against leaders who supported the conference. The central committee meeting held in Pokhara on Shrawan 14, 15, and 16 decided to hold the national conference on Ashoj 5, removed Bastola from the post of General Secretary, and transformed the party into a presidium system. The meeting selected Deepak, the party spokesperson, as the chairman of the presidium. The national conference of the group led by Uday Bahadur Chalune, one of the five members of the presidium including Krishna Dhamala, Gunaraj Lohani, Didi Pandey, and Lal Bahadur BC, has started from Monday. Leaders said that a new working committee will be formed under Chalune's leadership from the conference. The Chalune faction claims that only Baburam Gajmer of the presidium supports the Bastola group. Uma Bhujel, who was expelled from Biplav's party, has reorganized the CPN under her own leadership. Bhujel, who gained prominence during the Maoist war by breaking out of Gorkha jail, was elected General Secretary at the conference held in Kathmandu last Saturday. Meanwhile, the Rashtriya Janamorcha, which has been leading the Maoist faction since the party was reorganized in 2031 BS, has split dozens of times. Mohan Bikram Singh still leads the CPN Masal. Chitra Bahadur KC led the Janamorcha for a long time. Due to domestic reasons, KC is not actively involved in the party now. Manoj Bhatt, the General Secretary of that party, said that he is not in favor of uniting with any leftist party in the current situation. He stated that discussions with Biplav's party regarding unity have failed at the final stage. 'The current government is moving towards fascism. The CPN-UML and the CPN are clear on the issue of the republic, but the issue of national independence does not seem serious. Although discussions were held in 2-3 stages regarding unity with Biplav's party, they could not reach a conclusion,' Bhatt said. 'Prachanda's emphasis is on going together in the local level elections. His focus is on that. Our parliamentary elections are just a detail. However, functional unity can be achieved with leftist parties on the issue of nationalism.' Bhatt clarified that there will be no unity or cooperation with the Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party, whose ideology has been narrow since the 2048 BS elections and has been confined to Bhaktapur. 'NMKP is a one-man army. It is not the kind of party that cooperates or unites with anyone. Its ideology is very narrow,' Bhatt said. In the last election, both NMKP and Rashtriya Janamorcha could not win a single seat. For the first time in 34 years of parliamentary elections, these two parties were swept clean. Similarly, before the last election, the Janardan Sharma group, which separated from the Maoist party, formed the Progressive Democratic Party (PraloPa) by uniting with the new force led by former Maoist leader Baburam Bhattarai as patron. After the party did not achieve expected results in the elections, it split. Now the Bhattarai group has revived the old party, Naya Shakti. PraloPa has reorganized the party and formed a front with Madhes-centric parties. Bhattarai had separated from the Maoist party after the constitution was formed in 2072 BS. This party has also split from time to time. Mahindra Ray Yadav and Ganga Narayan Shrestha's groups from the former Nepal Socialist Party led by Bhattarai have merged into Prachanda's party. Previously Divided Over Ideology, Now Over Power From 2006 to 2019 BS, although there were ideological differences within the CPN, there was no split. In 2017 BS, then King Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah overthrew the elected government and implemented autocratic Panchayat rule. The Communist Party was victorious in China under the leadership of Mao Zedong. After that, debates began in Nepali leftist parties, centering on Russian communists and Chinese communists. Due to the support of CPN General Secretary Dr. Kesar Jung Rayamajhi for King Mahendra's move in 2017 BS, there were intense differences within the party. Finally, at the Third General Convention held in 2019 BS, the CPN split. Since then, the series of splits and fragmentation of leftist parties has continued. After the attempt to reorganize the CPN under the leadership of Mohan Bikram Singh failed by 2031 BS, two factions of the left have been active since then. Marxism and Leninism are currently led by CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli. Maoism is led by CPN (Maoist Centre) coordinator Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda'. All other remaining leftist parties have emerged within these factions. While leftist parties used to split due to differences in ideology and principles in the past, the trend of splitting due to power and struggle for power has increased now. Leftists, who have been put on the defensive after the Genji movement, are trying to cooperate, unite, polarize, and form fronts. On Shrawan 9, a three-point agreement was reached between the UML and the CPN for power cooperation in the provinces. Both sides claim this agreement to be the basis for future party unity. Since the unity between these two parties broke in 2077 BS, neither side is optimistic that unity will be achieved again at the same volume and that it will generate public attraction towards leftist parties.