A group of leaders led by CPN-UML Vice-Chairman Ashok Rai are all set to address a gathering of the dissidents, who call themselves ´the forward-looking group in UML´ in Janakpur, Dhanusha on Saturday.[break]
While former lawmakers Rijwan Ansari and Gopal Thakur will be accompanying Rai from Kathmandu, UML politburo member Ram Chandra Jha reached Janakpur couple of days ago for preparatory works for the gathering.
UML Chairman Khanal had earlier this week offered a nine-page explanation on UML´s position in regard to nomenclature and delineation of provinces in a new federal set up. Refusing to accept the dissident´s demand for a federal model based on single-ethnic identity, Khanal reiterated the party´s official position to stand for multiethnic provinces.
"Tomorrow [Saturday] we are holding a massive gathering here in this historic town of Janakpur. Our Vice-Chairman Ashok Rai, among other leaders, will be addressing the crowd of hundreds of participants," Jha told Republica over phone from Janakpur.
According to him, their group already formed an 11-member committees of forward-looking group in each of the seven constituencies in Dhanusha and a 77-member district chapter of the same members.
After Dhanusha, they are planning to hold similar gatherings in other parts of the country including Mahottari, Siraha and Sarlahi.
Jha said it was the Dhanusha district, where committees of forward-looking group were formed first, and that the district gathering is being held in the same district for the first time. According to him, similar committees have been formed in over 30 districts so far.
Ansari told Republica that he had already formed a 51-member district committee in his home district Sarlahi and they were planning to hold a district-level gathering in the district within couple of days.
According to him, they decided to intensify their movement nationwide as they, after studying Khanal´s response, found that the UML party was not going to address their demands. "We found no point in continuing intra-party struggle within UML in the hope that the establishment would be positive toward our demands," Ansari explained.
Another dissident central committee member Bir Bahadur Lama is in his home district Makwanpur to mobilize the ´forward-looking´ group for their cause.
"We have started working to establish a new force as we came to a conclusion that there is no point in staying within the UML in the name of intra-party struggle," he told Republica over phone.
Meanwhile, the party establishment has taken strong exception to the disgruntled group´s activities. UML Secretary Yubaraj Gyawali, who is also the chief of the party´s organization department, said that the party leadership was closely watching their activities and has found they were working in contravention with the party policy.
He said the party chairman had already offered the party´s position in writing and the leadership was for ending the situation without delay. "Now, we will hold final talks with them [dissidents] because we want to close this chapter immediately," Gyawali told Republica.
Wasted 3 months because of three ethnic leaders
Frustrated by some of the dissident leaders, who have lately been lobbying for intra-party struggle within the UML and not to form new force, Ajambar Kangmang said some key leaders have betrayed them.
"In fact, we wasted at least three months by waiting for three leaders -- Politburo member Prithivi Subba Gurung and central committee members Kiran Gurung and Dal Bahadur Rana Magar," said Kangmang. "Otherwise, we would have started the same activities that we are launching now at least some three months ago."
The three have lately been lobbying for intra-party struggle in the hope of that the UML leadership can be convinced about their demands in the long run.
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