Aspiring candidates left high and dry
Kathmandu, July 22
Some of the young leaders of Nepal Communist Party (NCP) have expressed dissatisfaction with the appointment of district in-charges and co-in-charges.
They have accused the top leaders of the party — Co-chairs Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal and senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal — of appointing their nearest and dearest ones in the posts.
The central secretariat meeting of the NCP yesterday appointed in-charges and co-in-charges of 77 districts and six metropolitan cities. However, some of the young leaders and aspiring candidates for the posts such as Thakur Gaire and Lekh Nath Neupane were neglected by the party leading to widespread dissatisfaction among young party leaders and cadres.
“The party cannot function in this way. I think there is ideological crisis in the leadership too,” a political analyst Hari Roka told THT, adding that to run a political party smoothly, capable leaders should be entrusted with responsibilities.
“Nepal, who was talking about ‘one person, one post’ policy, remained silent after he got enough space to accommodate the leaders of his faction.
“This is the problem with our leaders. When it comes to posts and portfolios in the party, a person loyal to top leaders is given priority. Hard working and committed leaders and cadres are always ignored,” a senior NCP leader told THT on condition of anonymity. The leader also added that such a tendency would weaken the party from inside.
To manage power-balance among the three leaders, the party has appointed up to 10 co-in-charges in some districts. Even after doing that some really promising leaders from the then CPN-UML and CPN-MC have been left out.
The party has appointed Sabitri Bhusal as in-charge of Kathmandu district. Anjana Bisanke, Kumar Paudel, Dilip Maharjan, Narayan Silwal, Parwati Thapa, Basanta Prasad Manandhar, Mukti Narayan Pradhan, Rameshor Phuyal, and Surendra Manandhar have been appointed as co-in-charges of the district.
But former CPN-MC leader Lekhnath Neupane has not been given any space just because he is not loyal to Dahal,” a leader from then CPN-MC told THT. He added that since Neupane knew no sycophancy, Dahal didn’t give him any vital post in the party. “Dahal wants to jeopardise Neupane’s political career,” he accused.
While it seems Dahal has not favoured Neupane, Renu Dahal has proven lucky once again as she has been appointed in-charge of Bharatpur Metropolitan City. Many believe she got the post by virtue of being party Co-chair Dahal’s daughter.
Similarly, another aspiring candidate for the post was Thakur Gaire, a leader from former CPN-UML. He was also ignored by the top leaders this time. In his place, Som Prasad Pandey was appointed as the in-charge. Pandey is close to senior leader Nepal.
Moreover, Birodh Khatiwada, a leader close to Nepal, has been appointed in-charge of Makwanpur. His wife Munu Sigdel Khatiwada was appointed secretary of the district in April.
READ ALSO: