KATHMANDU, JULY 19
Five top communist leaders – Chair of CPN-Maoist Centre Pushpa Kamal Dahal, senior CPN-MC leader Narayan Kaji Shrestha, Chair of CPN (Unified Socialist) Madhav Kumar Nepal, senior CPN (Unified Socialist) leader Jhalanath Khanal, and Coordinator of CPN-Unity National Campaign Bamdev Gautam - met here today and discussed the possibility of left ideological alliance or unity.
Dahal told mediapersons after the meeting that their desire for left unity was not aimed against the current five-party alliance. "All of us are in favour of keeping the ruling alliance intact. What we are talking about is the unity of communist forces," Dahal said. He added that the five top leaders constituted the majority in the Secretariat of the erstwhile Nepal Communist Party (NCP).
Dahal said they discussed the recent decision on poll alliance by the NC, as well as the CPN-UML.
According to Narayan Kaji Shrestha, the top leaders discussed contemporary politics, including the decision taken by the Nepali Congress central working committee yesterday about poll alliance.
The NC had decided to go for poll alliance with the ruling coalition partners to ensure simple majority for the NC.
Asked if the leftist leaders were concerned about the NC's decision on poll alliance, Shrestha said their response would depend on whether the NC decided to share the spoils with its partners or walk away with a lion's share for itself.
Shrestha said they would hold talks with the NC leadership to know the party's intentions about the poll alliance.
Shrestha said the current five-party political alliance was intact, but his party was also in favour of forging ideological alliance or unity with like-minded parties.
Bamdev Gautam told party leaders that they should try to forge unity with left parties, including the CPN-UML. "But there is no possibility of left unity with the CPN-UML at this stage," Shrestha added.
CPN (Unified Socialist) leader Jhalanath Khanal said his party was talking to the CPN-MC about forging unity.
Earlier, CPN-MC Chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal held a meeting with former prime minister Baburam Bhattarai who was recently expelled by the establishment faction of the Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal led by Upendra Yadav.
According to Bhattarai's personal aide Bishwadeep Pandey, Dahal urged Bhattarai to rejoin CPN-MC but Bhttarai said he had embarked on a new political journey to create a socialist centre.
A version of this article appears in the print on July 20, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
