Banner that nearly derailed show of unity

Kathmandu, April 22

Dispute over non-portrayal of the photos of Vladimir Lenin, Karl Marx and Mao Zedong in the banner prepared by CPN-UML leaders almost derailed the CPN-UML and CPN-MC programme organised to mark the birth anniversary of Russian leader Vladimir Lenin and establishment of Nepal Communist Party.

The lower end of the banner prepared by UML leader Krishna Gopal Shrestha had the photos of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and CPN-MC Chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal, while photos of late Pushpa Lal Shrestha, Manmohan Adhikari and Madan Bhandari adorned the upper part of the banner.

Ram Prasad Sapkota, chairperson of the Young Communist League, the youth wing of CPN-MC, told THT that he urged Krishna Gopal Shrestha to make changes in the banner, but he refused to do so.

Sapkota then told CPN-MC supporters that the banner did not have the photos of Marx, Lenin and Mao, following which they started sloganeering in the auditorium of the City Hall, the programme venue.

Left alliance leaders then removed the banner, prompting Oli and CPN-MC Chair Dahal to discuss the matter. According to Sapkota, Oli even proposed to cancel the programme over objection to the display of the original banner. “CPN-MC Chair Dahal then told PM Oli to hold the programme by putting the banners of both the parties to which the PM agreed,” Sapkota said.

The Party Unification Coordination Committee of the left alliance, which was supposed to start the programme at noon could do so only around 3:30pm due to dispute over the banner.

The banner hung on the wall by the CPN-MC had the photos of five communist philosophers and leaders - Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin and Mao. The sponsor of the programme later put the photos of Marx and Lenin at the programme venue. Oli and Dahal, who assured the audience of the unification of the two parties, downplayed the dispute.