CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who has commanded the party since its inception three decades ago, finds it difficult to get his instructions implemented at the provincial level despite his tight grip on the organisation, some recent developments suggest.

He repeatedly issued written as well as verbal instructions to reinstate Khagaraj Bhatta as the Maoist Centre leader in the Sudurpaschim Provincial Assembly. The instructions have been consistently ignored by Maoist lawmakers from the rival faction of the same party, increasing intra-party tension.

Chairman Dahal had summoned ten Maoist provincial assembly members from Sudurpaschim to Kathmandu to discuss the organisational issue. However, the meeting was cancelled after Dahal sustained an injury after slipping in a bathroom on May 7.

Although the party chairman wished to resolve the deadlock in Sudurpaschim by holding discussions with both factions led by provincial leaders Man Bahadur Dhami and Bhatta, he has so far failed in his effort.

Dahal held separate talks with each group to resolve the stalemate but a joint discussion has not taken place. As a result, Maoist Centre lawmakers in the Sudurpaschim provincial assembly, who had been in Kathmandu for a week, returned to the province without any progress on the matter, according to Provincial Assembly member Om Bikram Bhat.

“Chairman Dahal held discussions with lawmakers from the Dhami faction on May 6 and with those from the Bhatta faction on May 11,” Bhat said. “Dahal is now scheduled to visit Sudurpaschim Province on Thursday, where a joint discussion will take place.”

Sudurpaschim lawmaker from Maoist Centre Jhapat Bahadur Saud, however, said that Dahal has taken the disregard for his directive “very seriously”.

The issue has become a persistent headache for Dahal, as he directed the provincial leaders to change the parliamentary party leader last year when he was prime minister. However, the provincial leaders have been defying his order.

As rivalry intensifies between the Bhatta and Dhami factions in Sudurpaschim Province, the issue of who will lead the party in the provincial assembly has become increasingly contentious.

Saud, a provincial assembly member close to Bhatta, said Dahal has tried repeatedly to resolve the leadership dispute but his instructions remain unimplemented.

However, some leaders interpret the tension in the party in Sudurpaschim not merely as a provincial issue but a reflection of the power struggle among the leaders at the centre.

Despite factional rivalry and personal bitterness, leaders at the party headquarters have been trying to present an image of harmony among them, second-rung leaders said, requesting anonymity.

However, incidents like these reveal that at the grassroots level, Maoist members are operating relatively independently, according to party insiders. As for the issue of leadership in Sudurpaschim, leaders from the establishment faction support Dhami. They claim that, even after a year, Dahal’s directive remains unimplemented.

“If it was not a case backed by a powerful leader at the centre, the chairman’s instruction would have been followed,” assert Maoist leaders from the Sudurpaschim Provincial Assembly.

Some leaders also cast doubt over Dahal’s move to support Bhatta for the provincial leadership.

Bhatta has been close to Deputy General Secretary Janardan Sharma since the early days of the insurgency. Sharma has lately been seen as Dahal’s tough competitor in the party. When Dahal directs the party’s provincial leaders to make Bhatta the provincial assembly leader, a natural question arises: Is Dahal truly trying to make the provincial leader or playing between Sharma and Bhatta?

However, some insiders claim that the decision is based on seniority, as Bhatta is more experienced than the current leader, Dhami. Dahal wants Bhatta to lead the party in the provincial assembly. Maoist leaders claimed that Bhatta is the province's most experienced and senior leader after Lekh Raj Bhatta quit the Maoist Centre and joined the CPN-UML in 2021.

“It doesn’t seem that the party chair can separate Sharma and Bhatta merely by appointing Bhatta as the leader of the provincial parliamentary party,” a Maoist leader claimed.

On February 26, 2024, Bhatta was removed as parliamentary leader after a majority of lawmakers led by Dhami voted against him. Six of ten Maoist centre lawmakers then supported Dhami, with four backing Bhatta.

Currently, the parliamentary party is evenly split between the Bhatta and Dhami factions, with five lawmakers each. Although the Maoist Centre has 11 members in the provincial assembly, only 10 are active within the party, as Bhim Bahadur Bhandari is Speaker of the Assembly.

Despite Dahal and General Secretary Dev Gurung issuing two instructions in writing to reinstate Bhatta as the provincial parliamentary leader, the deadlock remains unresolved, over a year later.

Om Bikram Bhat, a provincial assembly member of the party, said that if the party headquarters decides based on the confidence of both factions, there is a possibility of convergence.

“However, the party’s central leadership must give equal importance to the concerns of both sides,” Bhat emphasised.

Party leaders claim that such a problem does not exist in other provinces. However, in Sudurpaschim, they argue that the issue has arisen due to a lack of strong leadership. While Lekhraj Bhatt was in the Maoist party, he managed the affairs of the Sudurpaschim Province, and no such problems were reported during his tenure.

Despite the leader’s claim, such frictions in the Maoist Centre are not unique to Sudurpaschim. The party is facing a dispute over the provincial assembly leader in Madhesh Province as well.

After a provincial meeting failed to resolve the disagreement, the party’s provincial lawmakers met again on May 13 at Chairman Dahal’s residence. Yet again, the meeting yielded no result.

According to Maoist leaders from Madhesh, there is growing dissatisfaction with the current parliamentary party leader, Bharat Prasad Sah. A majority of lawmakers are demanding his removal from the position.

In Sudurpaschim, issues came up after the party put Giriraj Mani Pokharel—a leader from the faction led by Senior Vice-chairman Narayan Kaji Shrestha—in charge of its provincial affairs. They accuse Pokharel of favouring one faction over the other.

When Bhatta was removed as provincial assembly leader, the Shrestha faction had supported Dhami, who is close to the establishment faction.

However, according to party leaders, the deadlock persisted when the Shrestha faction shifted its support back to Bhatta—who is close to party deputy general secretary Sharma. The Shrestha faction currently has one member in the Provincial Assembly.

“If the central leadership wishes to change the leader of the provincial assembly, we are willing to accept that,” said another Provincial Assembly member from the Dhami faction. “However, in return, the party must appoint someone of our choice as the provincial in-charge.”

They want former Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun, who recently returned to active party politics, to head the party’s provincial organisation.

Pokharel, the provincial in-charge, denied the allegations against him, saying that he had worked to bring unity among the party’s provincial lawmakers.