An office bearers meeting of the ruling CPN (Maoist Centre) vowed not to spare anyone involved in the scam of sending Nepali citizens to the United States of America, disguising them as Bhutanese refugees.

Most of the leaders present at the meeting urged Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal that the innocent ones should not be harassed with a political motive, but those involved in misusing the state’s authority to cheat citizens must not be spared, even if they happen to be Maoist Centre leaders.

“The prime minister told the leaders that all those involved in the scam will be booked and investigated,” said Chakrapani Khanal, secretary of the Maoist Centre. “The party chair also seemed clear that the issue should not be politicised.”

Khanal, who is also a former minister, said they had warned the leadership that taking action for political gains would only lead the country towards serious inter-party conflicts like in Pakistan and Bangladesh, where parties take revenge against each other when they get into power.

“In a country like ours where strong institutions don’t exist, revenge politics could be dangerous,” said Khanal. “But that doesn’t mean the guilty should be spared.”

According to leaders attending the meeting, UML chair KP Sharma Oli, also a former prime minister, had expressed his serious concerns over the action taken against his party’s leaders, including Secretary Top Bahadur Rayamajhi.

“But the prime minister said he had told Oli that he was not aware of the incident,” said a Maoist office bearer, asking not to be named.

Oli had also tried to convince the prime minister, saying the older parties should unite against the newly-emerged Rastriya Swatantra Party since the bypolls had indicated that the next elections would be very difficult for the traditional parties.

The prime minister told the leaders that Oli wanted to form all the parliamentary committees and also pass the bills in consensus, in line with the spirit of the understanding reached among the three major parties at the meeting held at Oli’s residence in Balkot on April 16.

However, the UML later breached the agreement by presenting an amendment proposal on the bill related to the Constitutional Council.