3 January, Kathmandu. The message of Ghanshyam Bhusal’s entry into the CPN United Socialist Party, which is in crisis due to the disappointing election results and the changed political equation, has shown little enthusiasm. President Madhav Kumar Nepal himself announced the message that Bhusal, who abandoned UML and contested the election from Rupandehi-1, is about to join the United Socialist Party.
While leaving the Standing Committee meeting on Sunday, Chairman Nepal informed that other leaders are ready to be added to the party building and said, ‘Comrades have come to join the party, Comrade Ghanshyam is ready.’ In order to further strengthen this information of President Nepal, Head of Propaganda Department Jaganath Khatiwada also says that efforts are being made to bring Bhusal to the party.
Before that, the picture of the president reaching Bhusal at Koteshwar, Nepal’s residence, was published. Many people speculated that Bhusal might go to integrated socialists after the picture of 18th of November. But Bhusal has not yet given any response on this.
Regarding party affiliation, Bhusal said that he was in favor of the then Nepal Communist Party (NCP). Remembering that he has advocated for left unity for one and a half years, Bhusal has said, ‘I am always in favor of left unity, I will take initiatives for that.’
As Bhusal said, a communist-led government has been formed in the political developments after the general election. The UML and the Maoist Center, two major components of the then CPN, formed the government with the support of other small parties, Pushpa Kamal Dahal is the prime minister.
But Bhusal, who proposed the left alliance before the local elections, is far away from the current power politics. Instead, they are listening silently to the propaganda of unified socialist entry, which has left the course of power politics. According to sources, Bhusal is not only campaigning but also intending to join the United Socialist Party if he joins any party. Bhusal said to those close to him, “Many of the leaders of Samajwadi are worried about the communist movement, and I have a responsibility towards them.”
This means that the agenda that UML had to abandon when it was raised, if the communist government is formed by staying close to the same agenda, Bhusal is going to become a unified socialist party which is falling into crisis again. While Bhusal had made a serious mistake against Madhav Nepal when he made an integrated socialist.
At that time, Bhusal, who was taking the lead to preserve the unity of the UML, wrote on social media, ‘Comrade Madhav Nepal has possibly made the biggest mistake of his life by abandoning the 10-point agreement under his direct instructions.’ But now the entry of the same Madhav Nepal and his party Integrated Socialists has become a relatively reliable alternative to Bhusal.
Bhusal has called this yurton seen within a year and a half as a compulsory step. Bhusal accused the party president KP Sharma Oli of not showing sincerity towards the communist movement and not running the party based on policies and methods when the UML was abandoned.
“..I have come to the conclusion that I will not stay in this party as I cannot be honest with the movement and myself as I cannot be honest with President Oli”, Bhusal wrote on 23 October.
When Bhusal left the UML on 23 October, there was a mixed reaction in the party circles. Those who were close to Oli believed that Bhusal’s decision was right, while many others said it was wrong. Bhusal’s political background worked behind UML calling it a wrong decision.
Bhusal, who has been involved in student politics since 2034, has introduced himself as an intellectual and philosophical leader of politics. Bhusal, who has been in party politics since 2048 as the General Secretary of Akhil, has made the current communist parties agree in his economic and political analysis. Through continuous debate and advocacy, he forced the communist parties to change their interpretation of the character of society after 6 decades.
In 2006, the founding leader of the CPN, Pushpalal, approved the interpretation of Bhusal, which did not exist as a ‘semi-feudal and semi-colonial society’. The Maoist Center has also accepted this conclusion.
But Bhusal always had a bitter relationship with Oli, who was elected UML president from the same ninth convention. According to the document passed by the convention, Oli was always hostile to Bhusal who was holding the unequivocal conclusion that he could not make a party program.
However, in the 10th Congress held in November 2078, the then party deputy general secretary Bhusal did not become an official again. Bhusal, who was not included in the official list announced by Oli, lost as a candidate for vice president. While that congress also accepted the political document of the ninth congress.
Apart from this, Bhusal separated from UML citing reasons such as Oli not being ready to implement the 10-point agreement, and the proposal of left harmony and unity that he had made in the party meetings was rejected. Bhusal’s biggest disagreement with Oli was the decision to dissolve the House of Representatives on December 5, 2077 so that the unity of the then CPN would not be preserved. In continuation of the same decision, Oli, Prachanda and Madhav Nepal became the leaders of different parties.
But after the collapse of the Nepali Congress leadership alliance that cooperated in the local, state and union elections, these leaders have come closer to form a new government. With the support of Oli, Prachanda became the Prime Minister, but after 20 months, only on 11 December, the lack of communication between Oli and Madhav Nepal was broken.
Meanwhile, Bhusal is without a party. After the party did not give him the ticket for the member of the House of Representatives, he is being accused of contesting the election against the UML candidate as an independent. UML Vice President Yuvraj Gyawali considers this situation to be a disease of the communist movement. “Not having the courage to stay in the same party even if you have a different opinion and creating a situation where those who have a different opinion are separated anyway is the old disease of the communist movement,” says Gyawali.
The fate of the communist movement
Pushpalal Swayam, the founder general secretary of CPN, faced the situation of not having a happy political farewell due to differences within the party. After defeating Pushpalal in the second convention, Kesharjung Rayamazhi came to the leadership. But after Rayamazhi supported the monarchy, differences started in the CPN. Rayamazhi left the communist movement.
Pushpalal remained in his stand and explanation, but the leaders continued to separate. When Pushpalal died on 7 July 2035, only a small number of leaders including Hikmat Singh Bhandari, Balram Upadhyay, Kesharmani Pokharel, Ekdev Ale remained in the CPN led by him. Mohanvikram Singh, Nirmal Lamas had separated by forming separate parties.
Pushpalal did not have the line and organization of communist leaders who were bringing a big stir in the communist movement. Only in 2033, Madan Bhandari, Modnath Prasrit, Jivaraj Asrit, Vamdev Gautam rebelled and formed the Mukti Morcha. Separated from Pushpalal and led by Manmohan Adhikari, factions of the former Koshi Provincial Committee had made a strong presence in national politics.
Manmohan Adhikari, Bharatmohan Adhikari, Kamal Koirala, Mohanchandra Adhikari separated from this line and led by Radhakrishna (RK) Mainali, Chandraprakash (CP) Mainali, Ramnath Dahal and the Jhapa Rebellion took place. RK, CP, Jhalnath Khanal, Madhav Nepal, Mukund Neupane of Yuva Josha had already started uniting the communist movement under the name Akhil Nepal Coordination Center (KOK).
At different times, the leaders who revolted from Pushpalal were also united through Koke and Male. It was only after the death of Pushpalal that he united with the leadership party and became the UML. But Mohanvikram Singh, Nirmal Lama, Chitra Bahadur KC of Chaum Dhar remained separate. Prachanda, Baburam, Mohan Vaidya, CP Gajurel, Narayankaji Shrestha who came with youthful enthusiasm in this direction could not stay together with Samayantar Singh, Lama and KC. While holding different opinions within the party, it was not possible for these leaders to move forward together with the new leadership.
Now Prachanda and Shrestha are in the same party Maoist center. Vaidya, Gajurel and many other powerful figures of the Maoist movement are not on the screen of national politics.
The equally terrible history of separation is continuing in the UML Dhar. RK, CP, Madhav, Jhalnath, Vamdev, Mukund, etc., who fought all their lives as a party organization and communist movement, are not with UML. Almost the leaders who carry the party’s history are separated from UML, President Oli has left the leader who should be respected within the party.
UML Vice President Gyawali says that such problems are always seen because of the split in the communist movement due to the narrow thinking of the leaders and the thinking of prohibition. Giving the example of the Chinese Communist Party (CPC), Gyawali says, ‘Mao also took action against Teng Xiaoping. But he did not form a separate party. They did not separate from the CPC.’ But he says that the communist parties of Nepal have not learned from the example of the leadership of CPC and China after the death of Teng Xiao Mao.
In other words, there is also a danger that Bhusal will suffer the same fate as the old communist leaders who separated from the party formed in his own generation and had to bid a sad political farewell.
