"We did not attend the function held by Salikram Jammakatel as we have differences with him," said union Vice-chairman Badri Bajagain who is close to Baidya. Jammakatel is close to party Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who attended the function on Sunday.[break]
Bajagain has formed parallel committees challenging the leadership of Jammakatel. On the other hand, the Bhattarai faction has accused both Jammakatel and Bajagain of breaching party discipline. "Jammakatel is running the union in a bureaucratic manner, while Bajagain is an anarchist. We have made up our mind not to attend the functions by these two," said Lal Dhwaj Nembang, assistant general-secretary of the union. Nembang´s group met party General Secretary Ram Bahadur Thapa to take steps to maintain the union unity.
"The general secretary has invited the leaders from the three factions to settle the issue," said Nembang, adding that his group and Bajagain´s group would not accept the leadership of Jammakatel.
Meanwhile, Bajagain stated that the party leadership has dissolved both committees -- the parallel committee Bajagain formed recently and the one elected by the fourth national convention which is led by Jammakatel.
"I have heard that the party has decided to dissolve both the committees, but retain the one led by Jammakatel to hold another national convention," Bajagain told Republica.
He stated that it is up to the party leadership to decide whether or not to allow incumbent All Nepal Trade Union Federation (ANTUF) chief Jammakatel to retain his position.
Dissatisfied with Jammakatel´s leadership, Bajagain had formed the parallel committees accusing party Chairman Dahal of turning a blind eye to the financial irregularities committed by Jammakatel.
The party standing committee meeting last Friday saw heated exchanges between Dahal and Baidya over the issue.
Bajagain also stated that his faction would hold a meeting of the Sanghiya Parishad, which consists of central committee members from all branches of Maoist-affiliated unions, as scheduled irrespective of what the party has decided. "You will see, we will hold the meeting with huge fanfare," he said.
According to sources, the party has decided to downsize the current ANTUF Central Committee (CC) from 251 to 93 members and mandate it with holding the union´s fifth national convention within three months. Similarly, the party also dissolved the parallel committee formed by Bajagain.
The ANTUF initially had 93 members. Bajagain faction has accused Jammakatel of turning the CC into a jumbo committee by inducting those loyal to him.
"The number increased after the party´s unification with Ekata Kendra two years back. So it is not logical to downsize the CC again. I know that the party has taken a decision regarding the union, but I am yet to be officially informed about it," Jammakatel told Republica.
According to sources, the party has also suspended 11 ANTUF members, including Assistant General Secretary Rajan Timilsina, for six months for beating up two nursing mothers at Khanna Garment, Lalitpur, over the factional row in the union in January.
Timilsina is close to Jammakatel, while the two nursing mothers are close to Bajagain. "It is a victory for us," said a union leader close to Bajagain.
Dissatisfied with both Jammakatel and Bajagain, the union faction loyal to Dr Baburam Bhattarai had held a separate meeting at Indreni Foodland at New Baneshwar on Saturday. The Bhattarai group is led by union Assistant General Secretary Lal Dhwaj Nembang. "We don´t agree with the ways of Bajagain and Jammakatel. So we held a separate meeting," said a union leader from the Bhattarai camp.
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