KATHMANDU, FEBRUARY 10
Ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP)'s Dahal-Nepal faction is organising a mass gathering today in the capital city, owing to which the traffic and movement of people have largely been obstructed.
Vehicles could be seen lining up in major junctions of Kathmandu valley as people started gathering for the rallies in support of faction leaders Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Madhav Kumar Nepal.
Top leaders of the dissenting faction are leading the rallies today which have simultaneously begun from major intersections in the capital including Pulchowk, Maitighar Mandala, Keshar Mahal, Tripureshwar and Jamal to eventually converge at Bhrikutimandap. The mass rally is being held as part of Dahal-Nepal faction's third phase of protest.
The Dahal-Nepal faction of the ruling party has been organising various protests and demonstrations in the aftermath of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli dissolving the House of Representatives on December 20. They have been calling this move on the Prime Minister's part, and approval of the same by President Bidya Devi Bhandari, undemocratic and unconstitutional.
Similar view is carried by other political parties and the general public that seem divided between the ideologies of the two warring factions of NCP that originally held two-thirds majority in the parliament. Seeking a fresh mandate from people during the ongoing pandemic has created polarising views among various sides concerned.
The splinter group called for a mass-gathering today to counter Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli's 'show-of-strength' on February 5 that had tens of thousands of Oli-supporters in attendance. During the mass-gathering organised by PM Oli's supporters, rallies were taken out from 13 different points in the valley that had converged in Durbarmarg, the city-centre.
In this tug-of-war between the two groups, what is being witnessed is -- normal lives of the public being largely affected. In the past weeks of protests and demonstrations, movement around the capital city has been clogged while people are carrying the brunt of the two sides not being able to reconcile.
