Sunday, July 19, 2009

A Discussion Thread From Ashutosh Shrivastav's Facebook Page



(I was not able to handle the format there: not conducive to a deep conversation. So I am bringing the material here. Let's engage through Disqus. I am very much into the conversation.)

Paramendra Kumar Bhagat
You sound quite skeptical of federalism. Federalism means disunity? Come on. Federalism

andolan1Image by paramendra via Flickr

will mean greater unity, genuine unity, not sham unity where one small political class rules over the rest.
July 11 at 11:30pm

Vijay Singh
ASHUTOSH u tried a lot frm ur side for expressing ur thoughts for the betterment of NATIONALISM...
July 12 at 12:59am

Ashutosh Shrivastav
@ Paramendra: At this time, I don't believe Federalism is an answer. We need to know why Zones and Districts were created and if they could be replaced by federal states.

@ Vijay: It's just a clip of the speech. If I get a copy of full video of the speech, I'll post it here.

Paramendra Kumar Bhagat
So you are not for federalism? Is that what I hear? Zones are so Panchayat.
July 12 at 5:41am

Ashutosh Shrivastav
I oppose federalism in Nepal. Too small for federal states...
July 12 at 3:12pm

Paramendra Kumar Bhagat
Switzerland is smaller. 75% of the countries on earth are smaller populations than Nepal. There are states in America with a million people in them.
July 12 at 9:04pm

Birat Simha
Federalism on the basis of what? Ethnicity and language, which was the original proposal of the Maoists? That can hardly be a formula for unity. IF we are to be federal, much thought needs to be given to how each federal unit becomes economically viable. Horizontal federal units will not qualify for this criterion. Let us also keep in mind that our... Read More high-handed leaders have already declared Nepal a Federal Democratic Republic. Except for the democratic part, the other two need much thought, intellectual and political debate and, of course, the PEOPLE's views need to be taken into consideration. Ideally, whether we become a federal republic should depend on the new constitution. But right now, nothing in Nepal is ideal...
July 14 at 8:57pm

andolan2Image by paramendra via Flickr


Paramendra Kumar Bhagat
(1) Federalism.
(2) Democracy.
(3) Republic.

We have already achieved all three in principle. Now we have to (1) bring the army completely under the parliament and (2) decide on the details of federalism: that is why we have a duly elected constituent assembly. ... Read More

The states will be demarcated taking many things into account. Ethnicity and language are among them. They played a role in Indian federalism as well, and India seems to be doing fine.

Federalism will lead to a greater unity. Nepal has never had unity. So far what it has had is internal colonialism.
July 14 at 9:24pm

Birat Simha
"Achieved...in principle"?? Whose principle? For instance, just because Girija, he was PM then, was "bribed" by the Maoists to declare Nepal a republic by promising him that he would be the first President, we are a republic in principle!! Get real, please.

Nepal was unified geo-politically by King Prithivi Narayan Shah in 1769. Its social unity ... Read Morehas become suspect over the past two centuries. If "One Madhes, One Pradhes" reflects constructive federalism, I beg to differ. That slogan is quixotic, unpatriotic and foisted upon the Nepali people by mischievous Indian elements.
July 14 at 10:51pm

Paramendra Kumar Bhagat
There is no going back on federalism, democracy and republic. That is what I meant.

Prithvi Narayan Shah foisted internal colonialism. We are finally about to undo that.

As to the shape and modalities of federalism, the talk is on.

The Federal Republic of Germany and its sixtee...Image via Wikipedia

July 15 at 12:00am

Birat Simha
Democracy is universally accepted. Why no going back on federalism (which is still a concept and not reality) and republic?? Nothing to go back on. These issues are in the mandate of the CA to determine. Three Bahuns making Nepal a republic is nonsense.

You better look up the definition of "colonialism".

BTW, nice having a chance to engage you. We had met only once before - in my apartment in NY in March 2007 when I hosted Mr.and Mrs. Deuba.
July 15 at 12:23am

Paramendra Kumar Bhagat
There is no going back on republic. As for federalism, there is no going back on that either, only option is to shape it right.
July 15 at 1:07am

Parimal Sharma
this was the best speech of the forum..should have silenced some of his critics
Thu at 11:23pm

Ashutosh Shrivastav
Thanks for the support, Parimal! For us, as the general public of Nepal, the CA election itself is questionable. Ian Martin seems to have been paid handsome amount of money to facilitate this heinous corruption in the name of democracy. The declaration of republic/secular state was done unilaterally without public referendum. As such, these decisions are null and void. Nepalese people reject all the decisions taken by 601 "Anguthachhaps".
Fri at 12:21am

Ashutosh Shrivastav
@ Birat Ji:

I'm with you. Disintegration of nation in the name of Federalism should be and must be opposed. The existence of nation is the utmost priority.
Fri at 12:38am

Population Density Map Of NepalImage via Wikipedia


Riti Patel
I think it was really powerful speech and I hope it gets heard by right people who wants to join you in helping Nepal reach its goals.
Fri at 12:38am

Paramendra Kumar Bhagat
The constituent assembly is a democratically elected body. The republic has been declared. Democracy is here to stay. Federalism has to be shaped.
Fri at 12:54am

Ashutosh Shrivastav
All the moves were unconstitutional. As such, no need to be honored by the "general public".
Yesterday at 1:40pm

Paramendra Kumar Bhagat
A popularly elected constituent assembly is the supreme body in the country. Nothing above it.
Yesterday at 4:55pm

Ashutosh Shrivastav
And, it is imperative to note that people like you and I didn't vote these people. These anguthachhaps were voted by other group of anguthachhaps in terror (perhaps vote in exchange of their life). The only supreme body is the constitution--the law of the land, which was scrapped by a herd of 601 sheep instead of passing amendments and eventually... Read More turning Nepal into a lawless country.

If people advocate for democracy, they must know the democratic procedures to run the country. Referendum and amendments are parts of it. That's all!
Yesterday at 5:35pm

John M. Kelleher
>> "Federalism will mean greater unity, genuine unity, not sham unity where one small political class rules over the rest." --Paramendra

Why is it that people presume that the dichotomy of "centralism vs federalism" runs neatly parallel to that of "elitism vs equality?" Federalism is intended to act as a mechanism of administrative efficiency, ... Read Morenot class or ethnic equality. Federalism makes sense in a context wherein the federal units are able to function as largely self-sufficient economies, with limited coordination. That would not seem to be the case in Nepal.
Yesterday at 7:26pm

John M. Kelleher
>> "Switzerland is smaller." --Paramendra

You're looking at the wrong "size," I suspect. Compare Switzerland's GDP with Nepal's, and it should become plain as to why federalism is not viable in Nepal. Nor is Nepal likely to be

andolan5Image by paramendra via Flickr

come a "New Switzerland" itself in the forseeable future, irrespective of whatever verbal flatulence to that effect which Prachanda may issue from time to time.

>> "We have already achieved all three in principle." --Paramendra... Read More

If by "in principle" you mean "in name only," then yes, I agree!
Yesterday at 7:26pm

John M. Kelleher
>> "Now we have to (1) bring the army completely under the parliament [..]" --Paramendra

It is odd that apologists for the Naya Nepal always choose to bring this up, as though the Army were the principle stumbling-block on the road to eutopia. If the C.A. declared that henceforth all rivers shall flow upstream, would the Honorable Water Minister... Read More be obligated to concur, lest he be accused of flouting democratic accountability?

Similarly, why is the Army expected to submit to its own institutional evisceration? Because that is, in fact, the only likely outcome to the wholesale induction of brainwashed guerrillas into the Army. Irrespective of whether the Army is "morally" obligated to do as the CA says, no power-center, anywhere, has ever acquiesced to its own obliteration.
Yesterday at 7:27pm

John M. Kelleher
>> "[..] and (2) decide on the details of federalism: that is why we have a duly elected constituent assembly." --Paramendra

I've already discussed why I believe such "details" to be unattainable in Nepal's case. Ev

NepalImage via Wikipedia

en if a workable form of federalism could be devised for Nepal by some subtly brilliant form of political alchemy, does anyone ... Read Morerealistically believe that such brilliance can be expected from the incumbent C.A.?

Nepal's current legislature is 61.5% composed of Communist parties, 38% of which hail from a particularly nasty, violent Communist group which still crops up on certain terrorist watch-lists from time to time. The remainder of the CA consists of a squabbling amalgamation of moderate parties and ethnic advocacy groups who can scarcely agree on the time of day.
Yesterday at 7:27pm

John M. Kelleher
>> "As to the shape and modalities of federalism, the talk is on." --Paramendra

... and on, and on, and on...

Nepal's current legislature can scarcely even PRETEND to function. You seem to believe that the C.A. is only months away from delivering a new & improved constitution and a workable federal mechanism. I would consider that about as likely as a 43-year-old female heroin-addict producing normal, healthy offspring with a full brain-cell count.... Read More

Nepal is inching closer by the day to the "failed state" category, if it isn't there already. The parties represented in the current C.A. are concerned only with maintaining their footing in the rapidly shifting parliamentary balance of power, and with claiming their share of the ever-dwindling supply of political patronage. Solving the unanswerable federalism riddle is quite nearly the last thing on their minds at the moment.
Yesterday at 7:28pm

John M. Kelleher
>> "Prithvi Narayan Shah foisted internal colonialism. We are finally about to undo that." --Paramendra

andolan3Image by paramendra via Flickr


This is precisely the sort of blind iconoclasm that I find so baffling in the Naya Nepal cheerleading squad. It is one thing to argue that traditionally subaltern groups ought to be given a stronger voice in Nepal's internal affairs. It is quite another thing to argue that every cultural, historical, and institutional underpinning of the state ought to be gratuitously torn down in favor of some abstruse mumbo-jumbo that we intend to make up as we go along.

>> As for federalism, there is no going back on that either, only option is to shape it right." --Paramendra... Read More

... and if it cannot be shaped, where does that leave us? With no option at all? I think you grossly oversimplify Nepal's political prognosis by presuming that the present settlement is unalterable.
Yesterday at 7:29pm

Ashutosh Shrivastav
John,

Thanks for "precisely" defining a lot of terms that have been vaguely defined by few Nepalese politicians so that they could rule on the ignorant population. I could easily see this trend at the ANA Nepal Forum where the "respected" politicians in Nepal looked dumb in front of the Nepali American audience and they were speechless when questioned by the people.

Ash
Yesterday at 9:47pm

Paramendra Kumar Bhagat
Ashutosh.

The anguthachhaps gave us the magical April Revolution 2006. I have more respect for their political consciousness than that of the diaspora Nepalis who are asleep on immigrant rights.

Nepal never had a legitimate constitution that we should feel sorry one got scraped. We are about to get our first legitimate constitution. ... Read More... Read More

Referendums and amendments come into play after we get our first ever legitimate constitution.
19 hours ago

Paramendra Kumar Bhagat
John. Federalism in Nepal's case IS about achieving greater equality for groups of Nepalis marginalized by the state for centuries. The political elite resides in Kathmandu, and so you have to devolve power away from the center. Federalism is a must is a diverse country like Nepal is to happily stay as one country.

75% of the countries on earth are smaller populations than Nepal. It is not too small for federalism, if any country is.

Federalism will also achieve greater administrative efficiency. ... Read More

Your second point comes into play after federalism is agreed to in principle already, as is the case in Nepal. As to the shape of that federalism, we are very much in discussion. Maybe you have a particular map in mind you would like to suggest.
19 hours ago

Paramendra Kumar Bhagat
Democracy is not for the rich. Federalism is not for the rich. Like Amartya Sen has said, a country is not fit for democracy, a country become fit through democracy. Your argument that Switzerland might be a smaller population and less diverse than Nepal, but it is rich enough to have federalism, and your argument before that that Nepal is too ... Read Moresmall for federalism, well, define small. Your argument is prejudiced, not political.

Once only landowners could vote in America. Because they were rich. Your argument is a throwback to another era.
19 hours ago

Paramendra Kumar Bhagat
I don't know how much you know about the army in Nepal, its ethnic composition, especially at the top, its opaque ways of functioning, its corruption, its bloated size. But know this, Nepal will not have fully become a republic unless the army is brought completely under the parliament and recomposed.

I am not for a wholesale induction of 30,000 ... Read MoreMaoists into the Nepal Army. I think the parliament should open up discussion on a bill, probably to be called the Security Sector Reform bill. That bill would decide if Nepal should have an army, how big it should be, what should be its ethnic and gender composition, and how to get there, how many Nepal Army and Maoist Army people you retrain for private sector jobs, how many you induct into the to be formed new Nepal Army.

I am not asking for utopia, I am asking for democracy.
19 hours ago

Paramendra Kumar Bhagat
There are many people on Capitol Hill who don't know the difference between Medicaid and Medicare. Should we then go ahead and abolish the US Congress?

I wish you had a little more respect for Nepal's constituent assembly than you do. It would be respecting democracy.

Do you appreciate the gulf between the Maoists and the UML? Don't let the word communist fool you. Or the word socialist as associated with the Nepali Congress. ... Read More

It is very hard for an oppressed community to get organized. That the Madhesis finally have a few parties, small parties, that speak for them, that is a cause for celebration.

Democracy is messy, but it ultimately works.
19 hours ago

Paramendra Kumar Bhagat
Nepal is in transition, and there is more lawlessness in the country than would make Nepalis happy, and the country currently seems to be going through a phase of political paralysis, but ultimately I remain optimistic.

There are 27 million people in Nepal and Iraq each. Bush spent a trillion dollars in Iraq to topple a dictator. The people of Nepal did the same thing with a street revolution in April 2006.

Do a trillion dollars mean anything to you?
19 hours ago

Paramendra Kumar Bhagat
Prithvi Narayan Shah "unified" Nepal around the same time that America was born as a country. Look what democracy did to America, look what feudalism did to Nepal.

The details of federalism will be achieved too. I expect this constituent assembly to make a timely delivery. Not to say there will not be some drama along the way.
19 hours ago

Paramendra Kumar Bhagat
Ashu.

You seem to join many diaspora Nepalis who make a hobby out of looking down upon Nepali politicians.

What I am saying is that the diaspora Nepalis are an asleep bunch. What have they done for immigrant rights, an issue that impacts them directly?
19 hours ago

John M. Kelleher
>> "The political elite resides in Kathmandu, and so you have to devolve power away from the center." --Paramendra

Yet again, I fear you are grossly misapplying the actual purpose of federalism. If you want to use class, race, and ethnic egalitarianism as your justification for federalism, then India and Switzerland aren’t the models you should be referring to. Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iraq might provide more salutary case-studies.

>> "As to the shape of that federalism, we are very much in discussion. Maybe you have a particular map in mind you would like to suggest." --Paramendra... Read More

Why does “we are very much in discussion” become your constant refrain whenever someone tries to point out the unfeasibility of federalism for Nepal? Isn’t it painfully obvious that the major parties in the C.A. are doing anything *but* iron out this federalism canard? And, how can I suggest a map for a federal model which I am inclined to reject outright?
8 hours ago

John M. Kelleher
>> "Your argument that Switzerland might be a smaller population and less diverse than Nepal, but it is rich enough to have federalism, and your argument before that that Nepal is too small for federalism, well, define small. Your argument is prejudiced, not political." --Paramendra

In this portion of your argument you appear to use the terms “... Read Moredemocracy” and “federalism” interchangeably – this is specious. My objections to federalism in this case are not based on anti-democratic sentiment, but on my understanding of what is, or is not, an appropriate application for the federal model.

If you will indulge me by re-reading my prior argument, you will see that my reference to GDP was predicted on my statement that federalism only makes sense when the federal units are capable of acting as free-standing economic entities themselves. In most federal systems, including the U.S. and India, federal states are able to set their own macroeconomic policies for the most part.
8 hours ago

John M. Kelleher
This is only viable if the federal states can actually function as freestanding economic units in their own right. This is where the relative size of the national economy under consideration would either support or militate against the feasibility of federalism. Also, you seem to forget that bureaucracy costs are exponentially higher in a federal... Read More system. This, too, needs to be weighed in any cost/benefit analysis for the federal model. In a Lilliputian economy such as Nepal’s, it would scarcely seem worth the trouble.

>> "Once only landowners could vote in America. Because they were rich. Your argument is a throwback to another era." --Paramendra

This is a peculiar tangent. Where does the electoral franchise enter into the argument? Yet again, you seem to presume that the distinct concepts of federalism and democracy are joined at the hip.
8 hours ago

John M. Kelleher
>> "But know this, Nepal will not have fully become a republic unless the army is brought completely under the parliament and recomposed." --Paramendra

“Recomposed... Read More” How do you intend to do that, without reducing the Army itself to impotence in the process? What you are suggesting is that the Army should be subjected to a massive top-to-bottom reform to cleanse it of its “elite” tendencies and make it solely accountable to the pluralistic and tolerant republic that you intend to conjure out of the mist.

Okay... giving that notion the benefit of the doubt for just a moment, *how* do you intend to do that without following the same course that the Maoists attempted, when they tried to force those 8 Brigadier Generals into retirement, and when they tried to unilaterally sack Katuwal? Why is it that Naya Nepal apologists invariably wind up echoing Maoist demands without even realizing it?
8 hours ago

John M. Kelleher
This is my point - it is impossible to subject the Army to such a comprehensive reform without emasculating it in the process, at least temporarily. I do not see Nepal... Read More’s political landscape as a passive grid of freestanding political entities which can be individually modified without affecting the others. I see it as a patchwork of competing loci of authority, most notably the Maoists themselves, the moderate parties, the Army, and the small nucleus of nationalists that still cluster around the Palace.

Given the extreme fragility of the balance between these loci of authority at the moment, I frankly do not see how it is either realistic or responsible to call for the vivisection of Nepal’s National Army. This would serve no interest save the Maoists’, by removing the last major institutional impediment to their own goals.
8 hours ago

John M. Kelleher
>> "I am not for a wholesale induction of 30,000 Maoists into the Nepal Army." --Paramendra

Good to hear! I think most sane folk agree with you on that one. It... Read More’s just a pity that the Maoists don’t. What makes you suppose that Prachanda, Baburam and Badal have any interest in compromising on this point? That would presuppose that the Maoists’ own goal is to streamline the integration of their own cadres back into the mainstream. *Why* would they want that? Force is, and always has been, the Maoists’ trump-card.

The Maoists have NEVER abandoned the armed struggle – this is not idle speculation on my part, it is self-evident from the Maoists’ own pronouncements and policies. This is why they will not, and indeed cannot, allow their parallel army to be picked apart piecemeal. They have no reasonable incentive to do so, and every reasonable incentive to block such an effort.
8 hours ago

John M. Kelleher
>> "I think the parliament should open up discussion on a bill, probably to be called the Security Sector Reform bill. That bill would decide if Nepal should have an army [...]" --Paramendra

*IF* Nepal should have an army? Honestly, Paramendra, what version of reality are you living in? In one of your replies to Ash, you... Read More’ve accused the Nepali diaspora of being “an asleep bunch,” and after reading some of your own statements I would have to concur!

I’ve already discussed above why I believe it to be recklessly irresponsible to destabilize the Nepalese polity by destroying one of the traditional loci of authority. Beyond that, I have to say that I find it shockingly surreal to see people proposing the complete reformulation of every aspect of Nepal’s political landscape by simple legislative fiat. It is naïve to presume that the C.A. can proceed with such measures with impunity as though these loci of authority didn’t even exist.
8 hours ago

John M. Kelleher
>> "I am not asking for utopia, I am asking for democracy." --Paramendra

No, you had democracy already in the Constitution of 1990. What you are asking for now is an unattainable utopia, and you are willing to propose tearing Nepal apart at the seams in a misguided quest for the unattainable.

>> "Should we then go ahead and abolish the US Congress?" --Paramendra... Read More

Another odd tangent. I don’t expect the US Congress to reshape this country from top to bottom. In fact, generally speaking, the less Congress tries to do for me, the happier I am!

Yet refashioning Nepal from top to bottom, politically, socially, religiously, economically and militarily, seems to be precisely what you expect from the C.A. And as far as ignorance and incompetence go, I think the Nepalese C.A. is in an entirely separate class by itself. Why, then, would we realistically expect more from this body than from the US Congress?
8 hours ago

John M. Kelleher
>> "I wish you had a little more respect for Nepal's constituent assembly than you do. It would be respecting democracy." --Paramendra

Oh, if wishes were fishes, we’d all cast nets in the sea!

Honestly, I fail to see how anyone who purports to respect democracy could find any inspiration in Nepal’s train-wreck C.A. It is a cautionary example, not a paragon! ... Read More

>> "Do you appreciate the gulf between the Maoists and the UML? Don't let the word communist fool you." --Paramendra

Yes, I know. That is why I was careful to separate the Maoist proportion in my prior post. MaKuNe has steered his party so far to the center that the “communist” tag is a joke now more than anything. The CPN-UML is, on most major issues, indistinguishable from the NC. This doesn’t seem to stop the two parties from blocking each other at every turn.
8 hours ago

John M. Kelleher
My purpose in pointing out those percentages was to highlight the ideological incoherence of the current C.A.’s makeup. How is a squabbling consortium of center-left, fringe-left, and ethnicist parties, plus one unreformed terrorist outfit, supposed to produce anything worthwhile?

>> "That the Madhesis finally have a few parties, small parties, ... Read Morethat speak for them, that is a cause for celebration." --Paramendra

I will refrain from commenting on the MJF and its fellow travelers. I will, however, have to question whether these parties have actually produced any tangible benefits for the Madheshi people, or whether they have only added another layer of disruption to an already-volatile situation.
8 hours ago

John M. Kelleher
>> "Democracy is messy, but it ultimately works." --Paramendra

Democracy is indeed messy, and it doesn... Read More’t always work. Moreover, it is not some magic salve which automatically cures a nation’s ills. It is, in fact, a remarkably fragile system which requires careful cultivation and favorable conditions. Nepal seemed to be on the road towards such an outcome in the early 1990’s, with an exemplary constitution and a Westminster-style parliamentary monarchy. A combination of corrupt and inept conduct on the part of the major parties, in tandem with a violent Maoist insurgency, served to scuttle these hopes.

Now, we are asked to believe that the same aforementioned parties, working in tandem with the aforementioned Maoists, can jointly produce an improved constitutional settlement after managing to scuttle the last one. In what version of reality does this make sense?
8 hours ago

John M. Kelleher
>> "[...] the country currently seems to be going through a phase of political paralysis, but ultimately I remain optimistic." --Paramendra

Well, you just might be the only one! You seem happy to repeat your magic mantra “Meaningful Progress is Just Around the Corner.” Frankly, I think Nepal is witnessing the final days of an untenable turpis pax. Subsequent events will show who was right.

>> "Bush spent a trillion dollars in Iraq to topple a dictator. The people of Nepal did the same thing with a street revolution in April 2006. Do a trillion dollars mean anything to you?" --Paramendra... Read More

Does the phrase “non sequitur” mean anything to you?
8 hours ago

John M. Kelleher
This is a truly asinine comparison [I *hope* you are not comparing the King to Saddam?]. How does one context compare to the other? It would perhaps be illustrative to know exactly how much the ongoing failure of Indian policy in Nepal, and the spillover of that failure onto the expanding Naxalite insurrection, has cost the Indian taxpayer thus far.

On one basis however, I can perhaps see some justification to your comparison. Iraq and Nepal both share the dubious distinction of entering the “failed state” category in the wake of misguided efforts at nation-building.

>> "Look what democracy did to America, look what feudalism did to Nepal." --Paramendra... Read More

Another asinine comparison. Is there any geopolitical or historical overlap between these two cases at all? The accomplishment of King PNS and his successors was an independent, unified polity with the apparatus of a modern nation-state. That alone is a substantive accomplishment given Nepal’s unique context.
8 hours ago

John M. Kelleher
Paramendra, the only consistent thread I can detect in your analysis of Nepalese history, is your apparent conviction that it would have been better if Nepal had never been created in the first place. Have I mistaken you on that point?

>> "I expect this constituent assembly to make a timely delivery. Not to say there will not be some drama along the way." --Paramendra

“Some drama?” An understatement, at best! Frankly I will be duly impressed if this accident-prone, misbegotten C.A. manages to produce *any* constitution at all, even a slapdash cut-and-paste job.... Read More

If its performance thus far is to be taken as any sort of precedent, I think it highly unlikely that the C.A. will have anything to show by the time the due-date rolls around.
8 hours ago

Ashutosh Shrivastav
Guess what? Some people expect the constitution to be written by people who don't know even how to write their name. Do they know what constitution means? Probably their 3rd offspring will be able to know that.
7 hours ago

Tika Ram Ojha
Prithvi Narayan Shah foisted internal colonialism. We are finally about to undo that." Paramendra
You are right that PNS foisted internal colonialism -That is what we Called it Nepal and its our pride. Since he foisted it many tries to undo it throughout centuary,Even British tries and they failed.
And in 21st centuary we Nepali People will foist remaning colonies to form the Greater Nepal.(in your words)
38 minutes ago

Paramendra Kumar Bhagat
Oh. So many comments. I'd like to read and all and comment back, but this Facebook format is limiting and inconvenient. But I will take a bite regardless.
2 seconds ago

Paramendra Kumar Bhagat
John. Administrative efficiency, taking power closer to the individual citizen at the local level, if those are not purposes of federalism, what are? The two also lead to a more egalitarian, inclusive arrangement of state power.

Yugoslavia/Iraq or India/Switzerland. The way to avoid the former is not by imposing upon Nepal a unitary state.

The ... Read Morereason the Nepali Congress and the UML don't even have a map is because they have always dragged their feet on the federalism question. But then they also dragged their feet on the constituent assembly question, on the republic question.
2 seconds ago

Paramendra Kumar Bhagat
"In most federal systems, including the U.S. and India, federal states are able to set their own macroeconomic policies for the most part."

Factually incorrect. States do have their budgets, but the monetary policy is set by the central bank.

"....bureaucracy costs are exponentially higher in a federal system...."... Read More

You are on record saying federalism leads to greater administrative efficiency.
2 seconds ago

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Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Upendra Yadav's Options


Prachanda's Mistake
  • The issue has not been if Katuwal is a good guy or a bad guy. (Gurung Not Katawal For Army Chief August 2006)
  • The issue has not been if he should be sacked.
  • Prachanda messed up on the procedure.
  • He had to get all his coalition partners to agree. He did not do that.
  • After all his coalition partners had agreed, he needed to send his decision to the president. He bypassed the president. He messed up again.
  • The president then would have had the option to send the decision back to the cabinet for reconsideration.
  • The cabinet would have had the option then to send it back to the president. At that point the president would have had no option but to send the decision to the army chief.
  • Thereby the Army Chief would have been duly sacked.
Prachanda's Continued Mistake
  • Then prime minister Prachanda did what he did.
  • The president did what he did.
  • The president's decision has been challenged in court.
  • The parliament, Prachanda and Madhav Nepal should give the court space.
  • Rule of law asks for that.
The Court's Mistake
  • The Supreme Court needed to decide right away if the president's move was unconstitutional or not as alleged.
  • My understanding is the president's move was legitimate. It was the prime minister who bypassed due process in two major ways.
  • But it is for the Supreme Court to make that announcement.
Madhav Nepal's Mistakes
  • Madhav Nepal waited for his own party to decide which members of the UML will participate in the government. He extended that same courtesy to the Nepali Congress, to the TMLP, and the SP. Because that is how it gets done in parliamentary democracy.
  • But he went ahead and appointed Bijay Gachhedar to his cabinet without waiting for the MJF to officially send a list of people to join the cabinet. The MJF had already decided to participate in the government with both Yadav and Gachhedar holding major cabinet portfolios.
  • What Madhav Nepal did was against the basic norms of parliamentary democracy.
  • Madhav Nepal has proven there is as much danger to democracy in the country from Madhav Nepal as there might be from Prachanda.
  • Madhav Nepal made another big mistake.
  • He withdrew Prachanda's decision to sack Katuwal. That decision by Prachanda was under due consideration by the Supreme Court. A Prime Minister can not thus overrule the Supreme Court. It has been for the Supreme Court to decide on Prachanda's decision.
The Current Coalition's Big Political Mistakes
Upendra Yadav's Options
  • Perhaps Upendra Yadav's original sin was to bring into the MJF the corrupt Congress faces like Bijay Gachhedar and Sharad Singh Bhandari.
  • Or his second mistake was to not himself have become the parliamentary party leader after the April 2008 election.
  • His continued mistake might have been that his leadership style has not been as consultative as it should be. (The MJF Must Stay Intact, Putting The MJF Fire Out, MJF: Is Reconciliation Possible?, The MJF Drama)
  • Whether by naked Indian embassy intervention (and the Pahadis think Madhesis are Indians!) or by simply buying out MPs and central committee members or by happily playing into the hands of the Pahadi ruling class or all of the above, Bijay Gachhedar has proven he is capable of bringing about a vertical split in the MJF.
  • It is for Upendra Yadav to decide if it makes sense to seek reconciliation with Gachhedar or to go his separate way.
  • At this juncture to seek reconciliation would be to say, okay Jhala Nath Khanal is UML president, but he is not in the cabinet, Girija is NC president, but he is not in the cabinet, neither Mahanth Thakur nor Hridayesh Tripathy are in the cabinet. And so Upendra Yadav is also going to stay out of the cabinet for now and instead seek party unity.
  • This might be Upendra Yadav's best option. He should lose this small battle to later win the war.
  • After reunifying the party then Upendra Yadav should work with Prachanda for the formation of an all party national unity government and bring it about in a few months' time.
  • In politics six months are a long, long time.
  • Keeping the party intact at any cost might be Upendra Yadav's best option at this point.
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Friday, July 10, 2009

Madhesi Movement And Peace Process: Rethink Time?

andolan1Image by paramendra via Flickr

Both the Madhesi Movement and Nepal's peace process are at a delicate juncture at this moment. There is major lawlessness in the country, especially in the Terai. A political paralysis has gripped the country. The largest Madhesi party has undergone a vertical split. The Maoists are doing all they can to disrupt government work until a new government in their leadership is formed. Basic due process has been disrespected, either through ignorance or ill will, by all and sundry. The peace process is at its lowest point since the 12 point agreement between the Maoists and then seven parties in late 2005.

The Maoists are not about to reignite a civil war. But is lawlessness not bad enough news? Is the current political paralysis not bad enough news? Nothing much is getting done. The work on building the institutions of democracy is at halt.

It is important for the largest six parties in the parliament to work hard to revive the spirit of the 12 point agreement when they put aside their major differences in the interests of the people and the nation.

Even if the Maoists will not go back to the jungle, even if the Maoists will accept mul

andolan2Image by paramendra via Flickr

ti-party democracy for good, there still is much work to be done. Basic law and order is something all parties should be able to agree upon. That is among the most fundamental of people's expectations.

An all party government might be the need of the hour. That might be the way out of the current political paralysis.

As for the Madhesi movement, I do think the split in the MJF is a tragedy and a setback. But the split is not formal yet. There could still be a rapproachment. Or the split could become formal. Whatever the case the newfound political consciousness of the Madhesi people through three major social mass movements is not about to be trampled. That no longer depends on any political party. All parties in the country have no option but to respect that newfound political consciousness. The Madhesis will get federalism, and the Madhesis will make steady progress towards equality in all walks of national life no matter how many parties split, form and unite. It is just that that process would be faster if the Madhesi parties stayed united and actually become unified, such that there is not three, four or more but one party.

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Thursday, July 09, 2009

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Monday, July 06, 2009

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Friday, June 26, 2009

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Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Madhav Nepal And Rule Of Law


Former Prime Minister Prachanda's decision to sack the army chief Katuwal lacked due process and was declared so by the president. That decision by the president was promptly challenged and taken to the Supreme Court. Madhav Nepal went ahead and nullified the decision by the former Prime Minister. He can not possibly have done that. That is a disrespect of rule of law. A case that is still being considered by the Supreme Court has to be left to the Supreme C

Madhesi Jana Adhikar Forum, NepalImage via Wikipedia

ourt. The Prime Minister, or the president or the parliament may not engage in such indulgences.

Madhav Nepal has made another similarly improper decision as Prime Minister. He waited for his own party to decide which UML people will represent that party in the parliament. Otherwise three top UML leaders were in major disagreement. He similarly waited for the Nepali Congress central committee to decide on which NC people will go into the government. That was also true of the TMLP, the SP and the RPP. But in the case of the MJF, Madhav Nepal at the instigation of Girija Koirala went against all the basic norms of parliamentary democracy and appointed Bijay Gachhedar as Prime Minister.

Upendra Yadav probably could take Madhav Nepal to court on that one.

andolan4Image by paramendra via Flickr



There is the law and then there is politics.

Upendra Yadav could have expelled Bijay Gachhedar as he did, but then Gachhedar has had the option to walk away with 40% or more of the MJF MPs, as he did. A split came about, although it is not formal yet because both factions are still trying to say they are the original party. Gachhedar has not registered a new party yet.

Curiously now Madhav Nepal is toying with the idea of sacking Katuwal after all. He can do that. If all his coalition partners agree, Nepal can legitimately sack Katuwal.

So there is the law, and there is politics. That also leaves the possibility of Upendra Yadav doing the Hridayesh Tripathy thing and saying let bygones be bygones, he does not want to go into power himself, and making overtures to reunify the MJF.

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Tuesday, June 23, 2009

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Saturday, June 20, 2009

What Next For The Madhesi Movement?

What Is Gachhedar Thinking?
The Implications Of A Split In The MJF
The MJF Must Stay Intact

andolan3Image by paramendra via Flickr

Analysis

Due to the high level of political consciousness achieved by the Madhesi population due to two Madhesi revolutions and one Tharu revolution, the political future of the Madhesi population is no longer tied to any particular political party. No party, be it the Madhesi parties, or the Maoists, UML, NC, can do business in the Terai without being respectful of the aspirations of the Madhesi people. Due to the Madhesi revolutions, the Madhesis already have almost proportionate representation in the parliament, although that proportionate representation has not yet extended to the other state organs more permanent in nature. Federalism has not been achieved yet, but it is on schedule. The Madhesi MPs are becoming ministers.

The vertical split in the MJF is a blow to the Madhesi movement, sure, but it is only a momentary blow. It does not undo the political consciousness achieved through the

andolan1Image by paramendra via Flickr

Madhesi revolutions.

You could argue the MJF unity became victim to the left, non-left polarization in the country, but then it is hard to argue the UML is a non-left party.

The Madhesi political leaders have failed to deliver whereas the Madhesi population has delivered time and again over the years. It is not always easy to see if it is Madhesi disunity in play, or the regular parliamentary, democratic arithmetic in motion.

The Glass Is Half Empty

The MJF split is a near fatal blow to the Madhesi movement. The idea of Nepal having a directly elected Madhesi prime minister or president has been pushed away at least a few election cycles. The disunity and discord will only continue. Both MJF factions will see major defeat during the election next year, and neither the TMLP nor the Sadbhavana will see growth. The three Pahadi led parties will come in to fill the vacuum. The ruling coalition after the election next year will exclude all the Madhesi parties because they will all be too small to matter. The Madhesi political leaders will be out of power for about four years after next year.

The idea of a party led by a Madhesi also growing in the Pahad that the MJF had made possible to an extent is temporarily out the door.

andolan2Image by paramendra via Flickr


The Glass Is Half Full

A split in the MJF means now the two MJF factions are about the same size as the TMLP, and the Sadbhavana is almost half as big as the TMLP. Now it is not at all obvious that if all the Madhesi parties were to unite and become one party then the leader of that party will be Upendra Yadav. In this scenario it has become more not less possible to push the idea of one unified Madhesi party. A party convention would decide on the leader. Let the democratic process decide.

Disarray

The reality might not be as neat as either. Not only the Madhesi parties but Nepal as a country is headed for a decade or so of political fragmentation and political paralysis. There is a lot of side drama in the political sphere, but there is no decisive positive surge for the country as a whole.

The Maoists And Multi-Party Democracy

Many factors come into play. But there is one thing more than any other that turns the tables on political progress. The Maoists must work extra hard to convince all powers foreign and domestic that they are for multi-party democracy for the long haul. They have to do that

andolan5Image by paramendra via Flickr

if they want to see progress on security sector reform, federalism and land reform.

Another Maoist, MJF Wave?

Maybe the Gachhedar faction has no mass base. It is possible that the Yadav faction will see a surge next year. One scenario is that the Maoists and the Yadav MJF see a surge during the election next year and form a ruling coalition of the two parties to last a four year term.

A Directly Elected President

We are not about to become a two party state. No one party is about to gain a majority on its own. In that scenario having a directly elected president is extra important to achi

andolan4Image by paramendra via Flickr

eve political stability.

An All Party Government In Six Months?

If this government were to collapse and make room for an all party government under Prachanda's leadership, would the two MJF factions unite or still stay separate? That is an intriguing question.

But for that all-party government to be possible, Prachanda might first have to clean house. How about expelling some hardliners from the party?

In The News

Madhesi parties to send names by today Kantipur Online While Tarai Madhes Loktantrik Party (TMLP) and Sadbhavana Party-Anandidevi (SP-A) narrowed down differences after hours of negotiations, Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (MJF) appeared to be in complete disarray. ....... For Deputy Prime Minister Bijay Kumar Gachhadar, who leads a splinter group of MJF, selecting his ministerial candidates appears to be a tough job for the simple reason: Most of his supporters are still volatile. ......... “There are chances that Gachhadar may lose his lawmakers if he fails to take a consensus decision and appease all aspirants” .......... In a meeting with his lawmakers, Gachhadar received more rebuff than support for his proposed list of ministers: Mrigendra Singh Yadav (Agriculture and Cooperatives), Sawai Dev Ojha (Women, Children and Social Welfare), Sarat Singh Bhandari (Tourism and Civil Aviation). Jitendra Dev, Asha Chaturvedi and Karima Begam were also figured in his list. ....... Gachhadar is likely to offer one post to “newcomer” R.C. Yadav, who defected from Upendra Yadav's faction. ......... TMLP has three ministerial portfolios -- Education, Industry and Youth and Sports -- and two state mi-nisterial positions. ....... Rajendra Mahato will join the Cabinet as Minister for Supplies while Laxman Lal Karna will accompany him as state minister.
Prachanda's dilemma Telegraphnepal.com Prachanda’s days in his own party remain numbered as he neither is in government nor the party’s structure remains in his grip. ..... Prachanda knows well that if his party were to survive then he must invent some schemes that unendingly weakened the current shaky coalition led by shaky Prime Minister Mr. defeated Nepal. ..... Mr. defeated Nepal’s government will not last longer. The government may collapse of its own weight and the needed extra weight will be put on place by the Maoists. ..... “I will be back in Singh Durbar after the end of the Nepali festivals”. ..... Nepalese festivals begin October and end around November. ..... Khanal is on record to have recently said that “We need a national government which must see the participation of the Maoists”. ..... both Prachanda and Khanal favor the formation of a broader Communist Front and rule the nation for all time to come. ..... Sujata only the other day advocated in favor of the Maoists and said that “without the Maoists in government, the new constitution can’t be drafted”. ..... The pretty humiliated Upendra Yadav, the erstwhile founder president of the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum, by default, has freshly associated himself with the Maoists. ..... Upendra Yadav is basically a MJF leader with Maoist soul. ..... Hard liners in his party, like Mohan Vaidya Kiran and Netra Bikram Chand, have been encouraging him to capture the state through the use of the streets and violence. ...... Prachanda though wants to bounce back to power through democratic means, however, his colleagues, for example, Dr. Bhattarai, Ram Bahadur Thapa Badal, Lila Mani Pokhrel, and Giriraj Mani Pokhrel have been encouraging Prachanda to go in for a fierce movement and turn the movement into a revolt and later capture the State once and for all. ..... Some even claim that the hardliners want to depose Prachanda in the process. ..... Those who want the people’s Revolution to commence at the earliest are in the majority in the party. ..... Thus Prachanda has his enemies’ right inside his own party.
Poor Nepal Kantipur Online
Politics of inclusion Republica
Poudel crushes Deuba Republica Deuba was not to be seen at the election venue when the election results were out. ....... Koirala cannot contest the post of party president at the next general convention and there is no credible candidate from the Koirala family to step into his shoes. ..... While the Deuba faction had pressed to hold the election Sunday, the Poudel faction insisted that it should be held the same evening.
Baidya slams Dahal over national unity govt "To float the concept of a national unity government again is to form another puppet government; it is nothing short of a surrender to regressive forces" ...... In his political document, Dahal opined that it would be in the best interests of the party to continue with protests in the streets and in parliament and push for a national unity government in two or three months´ time. ........ After Dahal presented his paper on Tuesday, the hardliners had met at Thapagaun in Kathmandu to chalk out their strategy, party sources said. They have argued that the ground is now ready for the Maoist party to capture state power through a "people´s revolt".
UDMF meeting put off for Sunday
Maoists for indirect election of executive prez
Waiting on Mr. Nepal After nine months of poor statecraft, coarse language, absence of accountability, unwillingness to push the constitution-writing, and willingness to maintain their private combatant force intact, it was the attempt to break the chain of command in the national army that unravelled the government. That attempt brought the entire political firmanent together to petition President Ram Baran Yadav, who decided to annul the unilateral decision by the Maoists in cabinet to sack COAS Rookmangud Katawal. ...... winning elections by breaking limbs, diverting state funds to buy arms, ideologically infiltrating the military, and misrepresenting matters to claim nearly 20,000 combatants in place of 7-8000. ..... a mix of money, state power and threat of violence. ........ The Nepal Army did conduct a dirty war during the conflict period, and accountability and justice must be sought for excesses committed. That is a separate campaign, not to be confused with the Maoist attempts to shake the military´s foundations as a way of achieving ´state capture´. ....... As for the President´s action, the fact that the matter is before the Supreme Court is irrevelant for a party used to having its way with the fist. ......... Jhala Nath Khanal has proved a reluctant supporter of his own party in government leadership. ....... the third leg of the Maoist strategy in opposition is to adopt the ultra-nationalist, anti-India stance ...... Nepal has become a trouble spot where Indian bureaucrats and politicians wade in to ‘set things right’ ........ Far from being a responsible opposition, the Maoist party today acts like a wounded carnivore, one that has been deprived of its all-consuming need for state power. ........ an all-party national unity government led by the Maoists as the largest party in the Constitutent Assembly is the only alternative if the UML-Congress-Madhesi coalition fails to stick. ........ Mr. Nepal, Mr. Koirala and Mr. Bijay Kumar Gachhedhar .......... If the three fail, we will have to turn to an all-party national unity government in the hope that the Maoists who will lead it are more restrained.
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Saturday, June 13, 2009

What Is Gachhedar Thinking?


The guy managed to engineer a vertical split in the MJF flouting all norms of parliamentary democracy. Madhav Nepal could not even have appointed people from his own party into the government before his party decided, but he went ahead and appointed Gachhedar against Gachhedar's party's official stand which at that point was to take part in the government in a way that both Yadav and Gachhedar get powerful ministries.

At best he now has about 25 MPs. And he is asking for five ministries including Home. A

andolan2Image by paramendra via Flickr

unified MJF could have got five ministries, Home included. But by now Gachhedar has become a joke. Girija Koirala and Madhav Nepal used him and discarded him.

The party is still not officially split. There still is time. He and Upendra Yadav should meet in person and sort out their differences. But since all the plum portfolios have already been taken by the NC and the UML, the MJF has only one option left: stay outside the government, support it from the outside. Gachhedar now gets to resign because he can't be the only MJF person in the government.

Now is an opportunity to engage in party building activities. If the UML-NC government does not deliver, in a few months it might be time for a Maoist-MJF government with support from many small parties. At that point the MJF can get DPM and Foreign Affairs for Yadav and Home for Gachhedar. Right now is not a good time for the MJF to get into government.

andolan1Image by paramendra via Flickr



This is what is going to happen. The NC and the UML are going to drag their feet on two mega issues:
  • Security Sector Reform.
  • Federalism.
Then the Maoists and the MJF are not going to have any option left except pull them out of power. A Maoist-MJF-TMDP-SP government is going to become possible.
  • Maoists 229
  • MJF 54
  • TMDP 21
  • SP 9
  • Total 313
Gachhedar overplayed his hand. Now he needs to wake up to the reality and start making sense.

Perhaps the TMDP and the SP should also support this government from the outside. It is only a matter of a few short months. They have not been consulted on portfolio division either.

Bhai Phoote Ganwar Loote.
Upendra Yadav's Leadership Style: Much Is Lacking

Upendra Yadav must work on his leadership style. He does not consult enough. He should, as the leader of the party, be constantly consulting with all of his MPs and all members of his central committee on all issues big and small. That is on top of holding regular meetings of the parliamentary party and the central committee, and their various committees. And he should stay in daily touch with the top five or 10 leaders in the party. When in person is not possible, he should do it by phone. If he cultivates this style, it will be rare when the party president's viewpoint is different from majority opinion inside the party. He should also consult with the district leaders of his party on a monthly basis. He should invite them over to Kathmandu regularly. He should go visit them in their district offices.

In The News

UML, NC finally settle row over portfolios NepalNews agreement was reached during a meeting between Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and NC president Girija Prasad Koirala Saturday afternoon. ....... UML will get finance, home, defence and communication portfolios while Nepali Congress will hold foreign affairs, water resources, labour, health, law and local development ministries. ...... the two parties are yet to convince other allies on the portfolio distribution.
Gachchhadar predicts trouble for govt Bijay Kumar Gachchhadar, has hinted that his party might walk out of the government if it does not get the Home Ministry. ....... "If UML and Nepali Congress want us to continue in the cabinet they must be ready to give us respectable position," Gachchhadar said ....... Gachchhadar took UML and NC to task for not consulting with his party on portfolio division ....... "We will have to think whether to stay in the government if UML and NC want the Madhesi parties to settle for the ministries left by them," he said. ...... We will help the government even if we have to stay outside ....... Gachhadar also insisted that the action taken against him and other central leaders by the MJF establishment was not a legitimate one. He said MJF's

andolan4Image by paramendra via Flickr

Parliamentary Party rebelled against chairman Upendra Yadav's autocratic style of running the party.
US sets 'conditions' for removing Maoists from terror watch list if they renounce violence, stop the violent activities of its sister organisation, the Young Communist League (YCL) and actively participate and work together with other parties to support the peace process.
Oli confers with Koirala, RJP chairman before heading off to India Oli, who is one of the main architects of the new coalition, is known to have stressed that army chief Rookmangud Katawal should be allowed to serve full term.
Khanal hopes for a compete cabinet by Sunday the current coalition government will get final shape within the next two days. ..... the party has already forwarded na

Madhesi Jana Adhikar Forum, NepalImage via Wikipedia

mes from UML to be inducted as ministers in the new cabinet. ..... agreed on sharing six ministries each. ..... Khanal reiterated his party’s claim for Defense, Finance, Home and Information Ministries. ...... he asked members of the Youth Force to retaliate attacks of Young Communist League (YCL)
Gachchhadar demands Home ministry Republica
NC, UML Reach Accord On Portfolio Sharing
UML to keep finance, defense, home, communications: Khanal
Army chief will complete his term: Oli to Koirala
Give full shape to cabinet soon: MPRF to PM
At the Forum Prashant Jha, Nepali Times The Forum saga has all the elements of a Bollywood potboiler: betrayal, anger, violence, money and revenge. ....... For all his self-righteousness and sudden discovery that this is an "anti federalism" alliance, Upendra Yadav has shown remarkable inconsistency. ...... He first sat out the entire army chief controversy by junketing around the globe. Returning a day after Prachanda's resignation, he immediately started aiming to become PM with Maoist support. When the numbers did not add up, he shifted allegiance to the UML-led coalition and signed the common minimum program. And though his heart was not in the arrangement, he wanted to lead the MJF in this set-up. When that did not happen, Yadav sacked Bijay Gachhedar & Co. ........ Gachhedar's aim throughout seemed to be to divide and weaken the party. He unilaterally decided to back the UML-NC combine and bargained a plum portfolio for himself. ....... He threw money around to get MPs on his side. And then using old friends like Khum Bahadur, Gachhedar got the NC patriarch to put pressure on the PM to swear him in without an official party decision. ......... The Forum was never a proper party. Just look at Bijay's far right antecedents and desire to turn the clock back to the 1990s, Upendra's radical left background and commitment to federalism and the inscrutable JP Gupta's shift from social democracy to ethnic separatism inspired by a jail stint and study of Sri Lankan Tamils. On the ground, activists who build the organisation for the Madhesi movement had to co-exist with late entrants who had opposed Madhesi issues through this period. ......... The party had its use when a broader Madhesi identity was sharpest before elections and Yadavs, Tharus and Muslims needed each other. ......... In the last year after his electoral success, Yadav had become intolerably arrogant and felt invincible. He had little time for his MPs and rarely visited the Madhes. Gachhedar, on the other hand, closely wooed parliamentary party members. ......... The NC wants to weaken the Madhesi groups to recover its Tarai base. ....... GPK's personal grudge against Upendra for defeating his daughter in Sunsari and opposing his dream of presidency last year. India was also irritated with Yadav for his intransigence on multiple issues and felt that he needed a lesson. ......... With Gachhedar, NC, UML, India and the army ganged up against him ........ There are now three key actors (Prachanda, Jhalanath Khanal, and Upendra Yadav) who want to see an end to this government. .......... In case a political vacuum does develop, the Maoists or a new force is more likely to benefit from it than traditional parties. ...... When Upendra Yadav was asked last year why he was getting people like Bijay Gachhedar into the MJF even though they had no commitment to Madhes, he replied, " "I need their experience of power politics." Looks like the experience has boomeranged.

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