As local level elections approach, senior leaders from the ruling coalition including the Prime Minister himself are seen busy making visits to Bharatpur Municipality. There a bit of trouble is brewing.
In the past weeks, senior Nepali Congress leaders including Home Minister Khand and State Minister Umesh Shrestha have made visits to Bharatpur – there they have a thorn in an otherwise smooth coalition ahead of the elections. The thorn being rebel NC leader Jagannath Paudel and his announcement to run as an independent candidate for the mayor of Bharatpur. NC is under pressure to remove it as it is in the way of the coaliton’s candidature – Communist Party of Nepal – Maoist Centre candidate Renu Dahal.
CPN – MC’s candidate Renu Dahal, who is contesting a second term for Bharatpur’s mayor was the obvious candidature choice for the ruling coalition. However, NC leader Jagannath Paudel, believed he should be given a chance to contest the mayoral position from Bharatpur Municipality. Despite several requests by several NC leaders, Paudel refused to budge, and in the end, he decided to contest the mayoral position as an independent candidate.
Senior ruling coalition leaders, including PM and NC President Deuba, CPN MC leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal, and CPN-Unified Socialist Chairperson Madhav Kumar Nepal on Wednesday reached Bharatpur to stage a rally in support of the coalition. There, PM Deuba expressed his support to Renu Dahal claiming “the plot as an ongoing strategy to break the ruling party’s coalition” Deuba also praised Dahal’s work in the past years as mayor.
Prachanda meanwhile said that the nation, its constitution and federalism in danger. While he did not furnish any answers to how they were in danger, he did continue to demand loyalty from the people of Bharatpur in the form of support towards Renu Dahal.
