Former President Bidya Devi Bhandari, who is currently on a 10-day visit to China, is busy meeting top officials from the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Chinese government.

The visit comes at a time when she is preparing to return to active politics in the CPN-UML, most probably after the party’s “policy convention” coming September. The convention, according to UML leaders, will set the tone for her return.

UML insiders told the Post that she is soon embarking on a similar visit to India. But her India visit dates are yet to be finalised, a UML leader said.

“She is clear that we should not tilt to one side [between India and China],” said former minister Gokul Baskota, who is considered close to Bhandari. “The former president has already renewed her party membership and she is prepared as a political leader too.”

During the time of Covid, Bhandari had also proved her leadership on the international stage by speaking with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and others, said UML politburo member Baskota. “There seems to be no alternative to Bhandari [as UML leader].”

Bhandari, a former vice-chair of the UML, was twice elected President of the country and is now looking for an opportune time to jump back into party politics, said UML insiders close to her. She’s also the wife of the late Madan Bhandari, the UML general secretary credited with providing the ideological basis for the UML’s entry into competitive parliamentary politics. He died in a car crash in Chitwan in 1993 under mysterious circumstances.

But her plans to rejoin active politics by challenging the leadership of party chief KP Sharma Oli, a four-time prime minister, has already courted controversy due to questions over the suitability of the return of a former head of state to party politics.

Yet she appears determined to garner national and international support for her return.

On Saturday, she met Chinese Vice President Han Zheng in Gansu Province. Han is the senior-most Chinese official she has met during her China visit. Earlier, on Friday, she met and held talks with Ji Bingxuan, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People’s Congress and president of the Chinese Association for International Understanding.

On Friday afternoon, Bhandari addressed the fourth Dialogue on Exchanges and Mutual Learning among Civilisations in Dunhuang in Gansu Province and praised the idea of “community with a shared future” propagated by Chinese President Xi Jinping. Bhandari discussed China’s Global Civilisation Initiative (GCI), expressing confidence that it would promote understanding, mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and collaboration among diverse cultures and civilisations. (Nepal has yet to endorse the GCI.)

Bhandari emphasised that respecting cultures created pathways for openness and partnership, adding that sensitivities of people from different cultural backgrounds must be acknowledged.

Bhandari’s return to active politics was also a widely discussed topic during her China visit, according to two participants in Bhandari’s retinue. “As she has expressed her desire to return to active politics, the Chinese want to engage her,” a participant told the Post over the phone from China. “They also want to understand the UML’s internal political dynamics.”

“She presented herself as a UML leader during the meetings and engagements in China. They not only congratulated her on successful tenures as President, but also wanted to understand her thoughts and strategies if she returns to the party as its top leader, and in that case what role she can play to bring Nepali forces together again,” the participant said.

“The Chinese have concluded that she is returning to active politics and wants to be the leader of the UML,” a participant who later interacted with CPC leaders, told the Post. “We came to know that Bhandari told the Chinese that she was positive on left unity, and in fact she had been trying for it,” he said, referring to efforts to unify Nepal’s communist forces as they did after the 2017 parliamentary elections.

Back home, leaders from the CPN (Maoist Centre), the CPN (Unified Socialist) and other parties have also reportedly urged Bhandari to take a lead for unity among the leftist parties.

But her plans to return to active politics largely depend on how prime minister and UML chair Oli views it, say UML leaders. Oli, who is looking for another stint as party chair from the soon-to-be-held general convention, could face a direct challenge from Bhandari if the two fail to amicably settle the leadership row.

Rupak Sapkota, foreign relations adviser to former prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, told the Post that China is always positive on unity among the leftist parties in order to guarantee political stability and economic development of Nepal. Sapkota is currently in China and has attended some events along with Bhandari.

Last week, Liu Jianchaol, the minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee (IDCPC), called on Bhandari and praised her contributions for the development of China-Nepal relations.

“Inter-party exchanges play an important role in the development of China-Nepal relations,” Liu said, according to a statement released by the IDCPC. “The CPC is willing to strengthen exchanges with all political parties in Nepal, deepen exchanges and mutual learning of experience in state governance and administration, and promote practical cooperation in various fields through the ‘political party +’ channel.”

Bhandari told Liu that Nepal is committed to exploring a development path that suits its national conditions, strengthening exchanges and cooperation with the CPC and learning party building and statecraft from China.

Despite good wishes from CPC leadership and intentions of some Communist leaders back home, the prospect of communist parties coming together in the near future appears slim.

“Due to the growing distance between the main leadership of the UML and the Maoist Centre, and the current power balance in Parliament, I do not see the prospect of immediate party unity but it cannot be ruled out in the future,” said Sapkota. The level of mistrust among the leftist leaders is very deep but the communist forces may still unite if Bhandari takes up the UML leadership, he added.