Tug of war intensifies between Gachhadar and Bhandari

HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE

KATHMANDU: The tug of war between Madhesi Janaadhikar Forum-Democratic Chairman Bijay Kumar Gachhadar and the party’s senior leader Sharat Singh Bhandari intensified further as some youth leaders close to the latter formed a parallel committee of Madhesi Youth Forum Democratic (MYUD), a youth wing of the party.

The establishment faction of the party has asked Bhandari to submit an explanation by today why he appeared before the President on the night of May 27 ‘along with anti-federalist forces.’

Gopal Ray Kurmi who was expelled by the MYUD on May 23 for supporting the newly formed Broader Madhesi Front’s protest programmes, has been named the Chairman of the newly formed parallel committee. Saider Ansari, Dharma Lal Yadav, Manoj Chaurasiya, Hansha Sah and Biswas Dwivedi are the Vice Chairpersons of the newly formed 101 member MYUD. Kurmi claimed that they were the valid group now as 34 of 46 central members of the MYUD were with them.

“Out of 22 Tarai districts, nine district chapters of the organisation and nine office bearers of the district chapters including the Chairpersons are with us,” Kurmi said in a press conference organised here today. Kurmi said they decided to form a new committee because the Gachhadar-led establishment faction acted against the interest of Madhes and Madhesis and was unnecessarily harassing Bhandari for the latter’s political activism.

Kurmi said it was mainly because of the BMF’s pressure that the major parties did not dare to divide Madhes into five pradeshes. Shatrughan Prasad Singh Koiri, the Chairman of the MYUD close to Gachhadar said Kurmi and Samir Rana Magar had been expelled from the organisation and had no authority to form a parallel committee.

Koiri said only four persons among 46 central members of the MYUD had defected. He also refuted Kurmi’s claim about defections of district chapters of the organisations. “All of our district chapters are with us. These people are opportunists. They have nothing to do with Madhes issues,” Koiri said.