Hetuada, June 19

Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba today said that handing democracy to the communists had plunged the country into crisis.

Inaugurating the national gathering of NC’s district presidents in Hetuada, Deuba said the incumbent government was headed towards imposing totalitarianism in the country. “Just as a tiger cannot be a vegetarian, communists can never be democratic,” Deuba stated. He charged that communist government had put republicanism, democracy and federalism in peril.

Calling Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli a person who easily surrenders, Deuba pledged that his party would not allow the government and communists to seize people’s fundamental rights.

Deuba said it was normal for some dissatisfaction to surface in the party. He, however, stated that many accusations labelled against him were exaggerated. He said the party statute would be changed to reflect the federal structure provisioned by the constitution.

At the programme, senior NC leader Ramchandra Paudel said intra-party factionalism and groupism should end in the party. “The party leadership has to prepare the ground for party unity based on fairness and transparency,” Poudel stated. He accused the communist government and parties of influencing the administration and the judiciary. He alleged that the incumbent government had ignored and bypassed the constitution.

NC Vice-chair Bimalendra Nidhi stressed the need to become clear about the party’s ideology to strengthen the party. He argued that the NC suffered debacle in the polls due to its failure to reach the public. He asked NC cadres and leaders to be cautious as the communists were trying to impose political syndicate.

At the gathering, NC General Secretary Dr Sashank Koirala said the NC had no choice but to unite to defeat the communists. He stressed the need to unite by ending factionalism in the party.