Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, judging by his own words, attaches great importance to the unification of the two Congresses — the parent Nepali Congress led by him and the breakaway Nepali Congress (Democratic) headed by former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba. From time to time, Koirala has said that he will take rest from politics after accomplishing this or that task — now, unification is one, along with the constituent assembly polls. On several occasions, the unity talks were billed to have neared a breakthrough. But now, after Monday’s Koirala-Deuba meeting, the expected merger seems to be anything but close. “The merger appears remote now. We have been suggesting that a task force should do the spadework. This has not gone down well with the NC”, Deuba said after the meeting.

The NC-D president objects to the reports spread by some NC leaders saying he was demanding the second position in the unified party. In the past, there were also reports that he had insisted on the post of acting president. The NC was recently reported positive on making him senior vice president. However, according to Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat, an NC-D leader, Deuba made it clear to Koirala on Monday that he was not keen on any post for himself, but wanted the NC-D workers from the central to the village levels to be properly accommodated. But the NC is reported unwilling to apply the Deuba formula across the board. Koirala’s strategy to lure the NC-D people into the parent party individually has not quite worked. Thus, without according a “respectable” status to NC-D people at all levels, NC unification seems unlikely, at least for the present.

And the CA polls are now just about six months away. So, Koirala can wait. Some even allege, probably with justification, that some powerful external forces friendly to the non-Left have been encouraging Congress unity just for electoral gains. Whatever the truth, unity should be based on ideological and policy agreement on vital issues. Besides, if the clash of egos and personal interest of the top leaders is severe, a lasting unity is not possible. No unity would serve any purpose other than presenting a drama of artificial coming together to deceive the public. The truth of the matter is, the public is not so interested in the unity or non-unity of the Congress or of any other party. The public also remembers the fact that the NC government led by Deuba, while Koirala was the party president, had made a series of moves leading ultimately to regression in the country. And since 1990, Koirala, Deuba, and K P Bhattarai, a former NC president, have, among them, held the office of the PM 11 times. But such long innings hardly led to good governance and a strengthening of democracy. Moreover, there is the persistent issue of internal democracy in the Koirala-led Congress, and some in the NC-D have even suggested that the demand for internal democracy should form something of a rider in the unity talks. If the NC wants to turn over a new leaf on these important counts, only then will Congress unification hold any meaning for the Nepali people.