Dissident NC candidates too insignificant to impact polls

OCT 21 -
With less than a month to go for November 19, all the major parties have finalised their election manifestos and individual candidates are busy campaigning in their constituencies. Former vice-president of the Tarun Dal, the Nepali Congress (NC) youth wing, Udaya Shamsher Rana is contesting Lalitpur-1, where he lost to Barsha Man Pun from the UCPN (Maoist) in the 2008 Constituent Assembly (CA) election with a narrow margin of 1,318 votes. Pranaya Rana spoke to Udaya Shamsher about the Congress’ prospects, the party’s internal dynamics and its accommodation of youth leaders.

How will the NC fare in the upcoming elections, especially in the Valley?

Overall, the NC will be the largest party. In the Valley, I think the NC will improve on our previous tally. We are confident that we will win all three seats in Lalitpur. In the last election, we lost my constituency and constituency number two by only around 1,000 votes. We have a very strong candidate in constituency number three, which is our strongest constituency. So in Kathmandu we will get six-seven seats and in Lalitpur, we will sweep. The Congress will be the largest party but it would be unrealistic to say any party will get a majority. When we have 60 percent proportional representation, it’s impossible for any party to get a clear majority. To get a clear majority, a party will have to win at least 50 percent of the popular vote, which is very unlikely.

What has changed since 2008 to allow the NC to become the largest party?

In the Tarai, people are disenchanted with the Madhesi parties who tried to champion the Madhesi cause but all they were after was chair and money. The best alternative would be the Congress. In the hills, the Maoists have lost quite a bit of ground. There is no fear factor, intimidation and no Maoist wave. So one, our opponents have become weaker and two, people have realised that the Congress is the safest bet. We are very clear regarding the writing of a new democratic constitution. In the last CA, the Maoists were not interested in writing a new constitution. Their ultimate aim is to forcefully capture state power. They cannot do it through arms so they want to do it technically. Everyone, even Maoist cadres, has realised that 17,000 Nepali lives were lost for a fruitless cause.

Last CA elections, the NC was united behind a single central leader—Girija Prasad Koirala. This time, the party seems factionally divided behind Sushil Koirala and Sher Bahadur Deuba. Will this not hurt the Congress’ poll prospects?

I do not think this will affect us. Last elections, Girija Prasad Koirala was the Prime Minister but he did not campaign for the Congress. He remained neutral. Now, we have transformed the party from individual leadership to joint leadership. So the division within the party tends to get exaggerated, especially within a democratic party like ours. However, I think the issue of division within the Congress was always there, starting from the time of BP Koirala and Subarna Shamsher. But at the time of elections, groupism is forgotten. The Congress is now going to elections as a united front. So there was division at the time of the Mahasamiti [April 10-11 2013] and during the distribution of tickets, leaders probably favoured those who were close to them. But that chapter is now closed.

If the Congress is going to polls as a united front, why are there still dissident (baagi) candidates in a number of constituencies being contested by prominent Congress leaders?

This is insignificant. There are dissident candidates against Ram Chandra Poudel, Sher Bahadur Deuba and Sushil Koirala. These people have put in their individual candidacies to bargain and extract something from the party. Even if they contest all three seats, we will win comfortably. All three constituencies where there are baagi candidates are strong Congress areas. The people who put in their candidacies are not significant so it is not going to be a problem but it is a pain.

You lost the last elections to Barsha Man Pun by a narrow margin. Since then, he has emerged as a prominent Central Committee member and national leader while you have still known as a youth leader. What does this say about the dynamics of the Congress party?

In the end, I lost the elections. If I had won, I might have become a finance minister. I am very happy that there is a young leader who has done so well within the Maoist party. But the Congress, despite my losing, has given me a chance again. The party supports the youth. There were older leaders who could’ve been given the ticket but they gave it to me because the party feels that the youth will be able to garner more votes. At the same time we have to realise that promotion of youth leadership does not simply mean that you put the youth on a chair. We have to perform and we have to win the elections.

During ticket distribution, there was controversy over whether popular youth leaders would get tickets. How accommodating was the Congress of the youth during ticket distribution?

All youth leaders who were likely to win the election were given tickets. Maybe one or two got left out but I think being a youth helped in getting a ticket. I think leaders are conscious of the fact that almost 60 percent of total voters are aged between 18 and 35. There is a huge chunk of voters between 18 and 24 that will be voting for the first time and it is important to give them a candidate they can relate to. Among the probable winning candidates in my constituency, I am younger than both the CPN-UML and Maoist candidate and the youth are more inclined towards me.

What issues do you think are important for young voters?

Most young voters in the Valley and my constituency are educated. So they want to vote for people who are educated, who are not corrupt and who have done development works in the constituency. The youth want to be related to a candidate who can perform on two bases—development of the constituency and writing of the constitution. In my constituency, it is not just the youth but among all voters, I think I am ahead.

On a final note, what are the core agendas the NC is taking to the people in the election?

Federalism and forms of governance are important but the main agenda of the Congress is a democratic constitution and certain democratic principles that are recognised over the world. These include independent judiciary, executive and legislature—all three have to be independent—freedom of the press, right to property and basic human rights. All these principles have to be engraved in the preamble of the constitution. Second, we are going to write a federal constitution and Nepal is going to be a federal state. But this has to be a practical federal state. It cannot be divided on a single identity basis. Multiple identities have to be taken into consideration—caste, language, river basin, geography and economy. Third, the maximum number of states we can have in Nepal is seven. Five would be even better. I personally feel two in the Tarai and three in the hills. The Tarai has to be given a state within itself. We are not in favour of dividing the Tarai north to south.

And what about form of governance?

As far as the form of governance is concerned, we stick by parliamentary form of democracy. In a country like ours, there is a possibility that if the President is directly elected, he risks becoming a dictator. In order to control the concentration of power in an individual’s hands, it is important that the Parliament is strong and elects the leader of the government.

Labels: Interview