The party has not only lost its numerical strength in the HoR, but also its vote-share
KATHMANDU, NOVEMBER 30
The CPN-Maoist Centre, which was once a popular force in national politics, has been on a constant decline ever since it took everybody by surprise in 2008 when in its earlier avatar as CPN-Maoist, it won 220 seats (120 first-past-thepost and 100 proportional representation seats) in the 601-member Constituent Assembly, enough for its chairman, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, to lead a government.
In the 2022 elections, the party is a pale shadow of its 2008 avatar, winning just 17 parliamentary seats under the first-past-the-post system. It is likely to add 14 more seats to its tally under the proportional representation system.
Not only has the party lost its numerical strength in the Parliament, its vote-share has also come down over the years - from 29.28 per cent in 2008 to less than 12 per cent in 2022.
So, what has gone wrong for the CPN-MC, which once enjoyed considerable support among the electorate? Analysts say CPN-MC's failure to do things differently than other political parties, particularly the CPN- UML and the Nepali Congress, its faltering commitment to the empowerment of deprived communities, and its obsession with power politics has cost the party dearly.
Political analyst Vijay Mishra said Maoist leaders had sold the dream of securing a better life for all citizens, but when they joined the mainstream, their ministers proved to be no different from the lot from other parties whom they had branded as feudals during the days of insurgency. Eventually, leaders alienated themselves from the party's cadres.
"During Maoist insurgency, Maoist cadres could easily meet their leaders but when the CPN- MC joined the government, Maoist ministers started treating cadres as second-class citizens, eventually alienating them and losing their support group," he told THT.
Mishra said Maoists had decided during the insurgency that their first rung leaders would not join the government even if Maoists got a chance to form a government, but they did not keep their word.
"Pushpa Kamal Dahal could have prevented the party's decline had he not joined or led the government.
He could have elevated his political stature even above Ganesh Man Singh," he added.
Political analyst Chandra Kishore said the CPN-MC lost its political clout and strength in national politics mainly because it abandoned its support groups, such as Madhesis, Tharus, Dalits, indigenous nationalities, and women who had supported the party during the insurgency, but felt ignored and abandoned by the party after it joined the political mainstream.
He said CPN-MC's weak commitment to federalism and inclusion, lack of internal democracy in the party, and the party's obsession with power politics were the main reasons behind the erosion of its political clout.
Political analyst Tula Narayan Shah said deprived communities, including Madhesis, Tharus, indigenous nationalities, and Dalits were the CPN-MC's support base, but they left the party after it failed to secure their rights during the constitution-making process.
"People from deprived communities who had supported Maoists in the past slowly abandoned them because they felt betrayed. Maoists ignored the agenda of inclusive democracy, identity, and autonomy which they had espoused during the insurgency," Shah said. "Post 2007, Maoists could strike a balance between the peace process, the constitution-making process, and power politics," he argued.
However, Uddhab Pyakurel, another political analyst, said the 2022 election was very different from the past elections as each of the ruling alliance partners contested fewer seats compared to previous elections.
A version of this article appears in the print on December 1, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.
