In Tarai, UCPN (Maoist) to pull out all the stops

KATHMANDU, OCT 24 -
In a shift of focus, the UCPN (Maoist) has turned its attention to the Madhes, where the party’s 51 percent population reside. In the first Constituent Assembly election, it had focussed on mid- and far-western districts, the heartland of 10-year-long insurgency.

Besides Kathmandu-10, UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal had fought from Rolpa-2 in the 2008 CA polls to give an impression that the party gives top priority to the insurgency’s heartland.

However, Dahal along with other top leaders this time have chosen the Madhes.

The party’s official position was to field top leaders from the Madhes. Dahal is in the fray from Siraha and Kathmandu, while another leader Baburam Bhat tarai is from Rupandehi and Gorkha.

Leaders from mid- and far-western districts say the party abandoned the grassroots revolution and overall development of the region. Influential UCPN (Maoist) leader Barsha Man Pun, who hails from Rolpa, had fought from Lalitpur in 2008 and is contesting from Morang-7 now.

Leaders also say by shifting focus to the Madhes the party has not forgotten its base and the development of this area. The party failed to garner majority votes in 2008 due to less focus on Madhes constituencies. “We can bring development projects to our base area if we get majority votes and form a government,” said Khaga Raj Bhatta, UCPN (Maoist) Central Committee member who represents the Far West.

Bhatta is contesting against Nepali Congress leader Sher Bahadur Deuba from Dadeldhura. But he admitted that the party gave less attention to the development of its base area when it was in the government.

To give an impression that the party has not abandoned its base areas, Dahal started his election campaign from far-western districts. On Saturday and Sunday, he addressed mass meetings in Doti and Daledhura, where he tried to convince that the party has given top priority to this area.

“We have not abandoned our base area, but we have focused on the Madhes with a view that the country can not go ahead without balancing Hill and Madhes constituencies,” senior leader Baburam Bhat tarai said on Saturday to a group of journalists. During the insurgency, many households in the mid-western district provided shelter to Maoist fighters and leaders. Insiders say after the party split, most of the committed leaders and cadres joined the radical faction CPN-Maoist.

“In some mid- and far-western districts, the party position has become weak so top leaders chose the Madhes,” said a leader on condition of anonymity. “If the party was serious about its base area, Prachanda should have given his candidacy from the Madhes and the Far West, not from Katmandu. The same case applies to Baburam Bhat tarai .”

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