"The party will decide its team leader by Tuesday or Wednesday after a power-sharing formula is worked out with the CPN-UML ," Maoist leader Shakti Basnet said.[break]
Though leader Krishna Bahadur Mahara is the choice of the party establishment faction, the hard-line faction led by Senior Vice-chairman Mohan Baidya has thrown its weight behind General Secretary Ram Bahadur Thapa.
Thapa has currently taken a neutral position amidst the growing intra-party factionalism, but party leaders say he has always been loyal to Baidya behind the scene. During the famous Kharipati meeting, Thapa had taken neutral stance.
According to sources, the hard-line faction has also floated the name of party Secretary C P Gajurel as an alternative to Thapa to head the Maoist team in the government.
“The Baidya faction is not happy with Mahara as he openly backed Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal in the Palungtar plenum. So the faction is backing either Thapa or Gajurel,” said a Maoist leader close to Baidya. Mahara had apparently been a supporter of Baidya before the Palungtar plenum.
Similarly, Gajurel enjoys the support of Dr Baburam Bhattarai-led faction, which has argued that he has lately played a responsible role in the party. Gajurel was against taking action against Bhattarai in the recent series of intra-party disputes.
Another contender in the fray is Dev Gurung, who is close to Baidya. But none of the factions has openly backed Gurung as he never shows flexibility while dealing with other parties.
Party insiders say Dahal is likely to pick Mahara from among the multiple contenders as the latter has lately become the chairman´s most trusted confidant in the party.
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