Kathmandu: After the Election Commission gave the official status of the Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP) to Chairman Upendra Yadav's party, another chairman Mahanta Thakur's party is in a dilemma whether to protect its people's representatives or register a new party.
The commission has given the Thakur faction the option of staying within the party or forming a new party. If a new party is formed, the people's representatives who are in favor of it will be legally relieved of their posts. There is a provision in the Political Parties Act that a person will be relieved of his post as soon as he gives notice of resignation. According to Constituent Assembly member Bhimarjun Acharya, if the new party does not go through the registration process, it can avoid the parliamentary seat.
"This is the best option for the Thakur faction to retain the parliamentary seat," Acharya said. Even if the party takes action while sitting in Jaspa, he will not go for the post of MP.
Although the Election Commission has given official recognition to Chairman Yadav's party, he has not taken away the party status of party leaders including Thakur. Another constitutionalist, Chandra Kant Gyawali, said the Thakur faction could save its MPs only if it reached 40 percent in the House of Representatives and the party's central executive committee. "When registering a new party, all the local level people's representatives, including the union and state parliamentarians who are in favor of Thakur, go for the post," Gyawali said.
The Thakur faction has not yet decided whether the new party will go into the registration process after the Election Commission's decision, go to the Supreme Court on the Commission's decision or stay with the party. Chairman Yadav has criticized the then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli for supporting the 'regressive' decision and said that Thakur's party would be given a place in the party. Thakur faction member Sharad Singh Bhandari has indicated that he does not want to register a separate party.
Chairman Thakur and senior leader Rajendra Mahato seem to be the most embarrassed if they decide to stay in the party to retain their seats. The Yadav faction has concluded that the role of Thakur and Mahato has led to a split in the party. Yadav has said that Thakur's party can remain in the party if he criticizes himself for supporting the then Prime Minister Oli's move.
Earlier, the Yadav faction had expelled all the ministers in the Oli-led government, including Thakur and Mahato. Even within the Thakur faction, there is a difference of opinion as to whether to stay in the party or register a separate party. Thakur and Mahato are in favor of separate party registration while other leaders have made up their minds to stay in Jaspa for some time.
He concluded that by doing so, the post of people's representative from the union to the local level could be saved. On Sunday, the day before the 'head count' in the Election Commission, Thakur leaders Laxman Lal Karna, Raj Kishor Yadav, Manish Suman, and others had taken initiative to preserve the party unity by identifying the party with the majority.
Yadav and Suman had identified themselves in Yadav's party register at the last minute after some leaders, including Chairman Thakur and senior leader Mahato, refused. "The main dispute now is between Upendra and Mahanta, whose central executive committee is the official one. We have not taken 40 percent of the number of separate party registrations," Bhandari said. He said that how to move forward in the coming days can be explained by discussing within the party. Leader Ram Sahay Prasad Yadav, who is close to Chairman Yadav, said that Thakur's side was not in a position to stay in Jaspa immediately.
"It's politics, we can't say what will happen next, but the situation is not immediately apparent to include the Thakur faction," he told Kantipur. Failure to do so would be tantamount to splitting from the party led by Upendra Yadav. I don't see the possibility of staying together immediately. '
Jaspa has 34 MPs in the House of Representatives. Among them, Harinarayan Rauniyar and Resham Chaudhary are suspended. Of the 32 incumbents, 20 voted in favor of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba in the House of Representatives. There were only 12 on Thakur's side. Thakur's party has 31 percent in the party's central executive committee and 37 percent in the House of Representatives. As the number of parties splitting legally is not enough, the Yadav faction has been able to control the parliamentary activities of the MPs in favor of Thakur.
This changing political landscape has made it easier for Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba to run the government. If the Nepali side separated from the ruling coalition due to unity within the UML, the government would be in the minority. At that time, Deuba was facing a moral crisis to face the House of Representatives. There was a risk that bills and proposals would not be passed by the House of Representatives. "It simply came to our notice then. The way is open for us to join the government, ”said leader Ram Sahay Prasad Yadav.
On Monday, 34 members of the 51-member executive committee signed in favor of Yadav. There are 16 signatures in favor of Thakur. MP Resham Chaudhary, who is in jail on a life sentence charge, has remained neutral. He was brought to the commission from Dilli Bazaar Jail for signature. He did not sign either side.
Yadav and Thakur, the two-party presidents, had been running the party in different ways for the past three months. Saying that he had a majority in the executive committee, Yadav had demanded the party's authority in the commission on June 19. On 10 April 2077, the then Yadav-led Samajwadi Party and the Thakur-led Rashtriya Janata Party merged. On July 8, the commission recognized the post-unification Janata Samajwadi Party. Of the 51 executive committees formed by Jaspa during the unification and submitted to the commission, 26 were from the then Rajpa faction and 25 from the Samajwadi Party. However, now nine members of Thakur's side have joined Yadav's side.
The commission has said that the Thakur faction is allowing opening a new party if it wants. According to Article 44 (6) of the Political Parties Act, 2077 BS, if another party comes to register a separate political party, it is deemed to be registered as a separate political party as per the prevailing law.
The commission has not set a deadline for the registration of new parties. Election Commissioner Ram Prasad Bhandari said that the decision did not specify a time limit for the registration of new parties. He noted that the lack of time meant that it could not last forever. The commission reversed the decision of Yadav and Thakur to expel them from the party by taking action against each other. The commission said in a statement on Monday that no changes had been made to the decision. Accordingly, other leaders of Thakur's party are considered to be still in the party's executive committee.
The Yadav faction will get recognition only if the commission approves it by removing 16 people from Thakur's side from the new process. If the Thakur faction wants to stay within the party by accepting the decision of the majority, the decision of the commission has not stopped it. Chief Election Commissioner Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya said that the verdict did not accept the disciplinary action taken against each other and expulsion. "The decision of the commission as per the decision given on June 12 has made it clear," he said. All the parties who have signed in the commission are still in their respective posts. There is no change in that. '
He mentioned that even if one party gets the official status, all of them are within the same party. He said that they have been allowed to register a new party if they want to form a separate party without staying within the party. The commission has not recognized the issue of manipulation in the Central Executive Committee submitted by Thakur to the commission on June 20.
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