Describing this as “ideological deviation”, Baidya demanded that the agreement be scrapped. “The peace deal was struck humiliating the PLA. So we have asked the parties to strike another deal to correct the mistake”, the leader of anti-Dahal faction of UCPN (Maoist) said. One of the most powerful adherents in the inner-party feud is party’s general secretary Ram Bahadur Thapa.

The second point –perhaps more crucial than the peace deal – the note stated is an uncompromising critique of the Bilateral Investment and Protection Agreement (BIPPA) with India, signed during the visit of Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai during his recent visit to New Delhi. In fact, the dissidents, inspired by Baidya and Thapa greeted the PM with black flags upon his arrival at Tribhuvan International Airport on Sunday and threatened to embark on a campaign against what they consider as an “anti-national deal” is not scrapped immediately. However, Dr Bhattarai in an interview to the English morninger My Republica defended the BIPPA which, he asserted, was in the interest of the country and that´s the reason why I found it necessary to sign it. I am fully convinced that what I did was correct. History will evaluate it tomorrow. More than 2,500 BIPPAs have been signed by 180 countries. The format of the BIPPA is the same. It is unfortunate that some people spoke against BIPPA without understanding what it is. But people are gradually becoming familiar with the deal and public opinion is turning in its favor”.

Prominent CC member Khadga Bahadur Bishwakarma , told the media, “The chairman was wrong and we had to press him to rectify his mistakes. We are yet to see how he would respond to the issues we have raised”. The split syndrome was manifest months back. Which was why the CC meeting was postponed several times. Under pressure from the radicals, Dahal called the CC meeting within a short notice and had to cancel the scheduled national gathering of party cadres, particularly when Baidya warned the chairman of “dire consequences.” He told senior comrades that his group “will be compelled to launch an exposure campaign in the streets the following day if you hold the national gathering,”

Dahal was until recently has been adopting a tactic of buying time for consolidation and dialogue between two factions. He asserted that prevention of split in Nepal’s largest political party “is the biggest challenge” for him. Baidya and his factional followers branded Dr Bhattairai and Dahal as ‘foreign agents. The radicals who want Dahal and Bhattarai to step down – harder elements in the CC campaigning for their expulsion. Thapa, told the media at Kohalpur recently, that Dahal was dancing to the tune of India’s Research and Analysis Wing and following their directives against the national interests. “The chairman had confided to me that he met RAW agents during his recent Siliguri visit”.

Dahal too has been gearing up against the radicals who tend to brand Dahal and Bhattarai as ‘renegades’. His associates like Sapkota, Shaki Basnet and Girirajmani Pokharel have met comrades in the districts to consolidate their positions. On the other side, Baidya-Thapa faction has the support of CC members like Netra Bikram Chand and Khadga Bahadur Bishwakarma. They too held several party and public meetings.

Louder pyrotechnics are awaited in the next CC meeting - actually an extended after November 13. The CC had to be deferred as both Dahal and Bhattarai will be in the USA. According to a respected former Nepali diplomat, “It’s nothing new for raising anti-India campaign that suits the pro-China lobby. Pity is that during the underground days when the Prachanda Path was the strategic-ideological philosophy of the erstwhile Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), the party leadership unanimously blamed the leadership of the Communist Party of China for deviating from teachings of Mao Zedong. I don’t know whether the ultras will reap sustainable political dividend out of it”. (IPA Service)