In a country where the birth of political parties, their marriages and their divorces are so common, the recent episode of re-unification of the Nepal Sadbhavana Party (NSP), that had split up over whether to support or oppose royal takeover, and of yet another split at the weekend, may not strike the general people as out of the ordinary. Personal or narrow factional interests have driven almost all of these phenomena in recent times, not sharp policy or ideological differences. This process of joining and separating has picked up momentum ahead of the constituent assembly (CA) elections, which are only 65 days away. But one common characteristic of almost all of these phenomena has been the desire for opportunistic gain. Yesterday’s enemies become friends overnight, and when personal interests clash, they do not hesitate to part ways again. Even in the front of tiny Leftist parties, which is one of the eight partners in the ruling alliance, calculations of individual one-upmanship recently caused a split.

The Nepali Congress, which was in power immediately before the royal takeover of October 4, 2002, split up into NC and NC-D because of the rivalry between two factions. And now, these two are on the verge of becoming one again. The tiny parties of ex-Panchas are also making noises about re-uniting, for mere electoral gain. Relatively new political outfits in the Tarai have shown similar tendencies — for instance, JTMM, an armed outfit advocating separatism, has demonstrated amoeba-like fission. The Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (MJF) has now transformed into a political party, but it also suffered a split recently after its chairman Upendra Yadav signed a 22-point deal with the government.

As for NSP, a faction, including Rajendra Mahato, one of the party’s vice-chairmen and minister for industry, commerce and supplies, held the ‘general convention’ of the party in Birgunj last week. The convention expelled Anandidevi, chairwoman of NSP (Anandidevi), from the party and chose Mahato as party president. Days before, Anandidevi had expelled Mahato and several prominent leaders from the party. Each side has claimed it alone legally represents the party. It may take some time to settle the dispute, but what is unmistakable is the party’s division. Anandidevi, the late housewife widow of the party’s founder Gajendra Narayan Singh, was brou-ght on by a faction of NSP leaders to form NSP (Anandidevi) when Badri Prasad Mandal captured the NSP leadership and backed up royal regression. The public wonders if NSP and other groups have done more for themselves or for the people of the Tarai.