Putting The MJF Fire Out

MJF: Is Reconciliation Possible?
The MJF Drama
MJF Will Emerge Stronger
I Give Madhav Nepal Six Months
Upendra Yadav Is Going To Lead The MJF In The New Government
The Army Issue Has To Be Discussed In The Parliament
MJF: No Harm Done
Upendra Yadav Should Be Leading The MJF Team In The New Government
Contents 2009
Contents 2008
Contents 2007
Contents 2006 (2)
Contents 2006
Contents 2005
MJF: Upendra Yadav Is The Leader



The most important thing for the MJF right now is to make sure the party does not split. And the way to resolve all outstanding issues is through dialogue and open voting. Bijay Gachhedar showing majority support in both the central committee and the parliamentary party is a turning point, if he has done that.

The physical attack on some of the women lawmakers of the MJF in Birgunj is shameful.

Majority vote gets to make the decisions. If that means that the party president's line of thinking ends up in the minority then he simply has to accept that.

How to prevent a vertical split?

1. Upendra Yadav and Bijay Gachhedar should meet in person, one on one.
   
2. They should go back to square one.
   
3. I think it is fair to say Gachhedar has to resign from the cabinet. Or Upendra Yadav could exhibit some magnanimity and let it be.
4. The two need to realize that there will be elections in less than a year. If the party splits now, both factions will lose. People who are MPs now will not come back to the parliament. They must stay united if they are to have a shot next year.
   

It is ridiculous that Madhav Nepal and Girija Koirala connived to bring about this split. The MJF had already decided to join the Madhav Nepal government. And it had already been decided that Bijay Gachhedar was going to get a powerful ministry. But that was not enough. The Nepal-Koirala duo went ahead and appointed Gachhedar the Deputy Prime Minister.

It is not easy to wake up an oppressed people like the Madhesis are. It is not easy to unite leaders of an oppressed community. Infighting happens very easily. That is but a symptom of powerlessness.

Upendra Yadav's Mistakes

• Why did he not get himself elected parliamentary party leader after the April 2008 election last year?
  
• His leadership style has had its weak points. As the party leader he should constantly be seeking out all his MPs and all members of his central committee one on one. What do you think of this? What do you think of that? He has become aloof since getting into power last year.
  
• He misread the mood inside his party and inside the country regarding the Maoists. Many people felt it was a choice between Maoist autocracy and a new government in Madhav Nepal's leadership. For him to try to push the line to support the government from the outside was a wrong one.
  
• When a large number of his MPs came out openly supporting Gachhedar, he should have made an extra effort to reach out to them.
  

Bijay Gachhedar's Mistakes

• The number one thing Bijay Gachhedar has to realize right now is that if the party splits, he is not going to come back to the parliament next year. He is going to lose the election next year.
  
• That is going to be extra true of many of the other MPs.
  
• Bijay Gachhedar has to realize that Prachanda, Madhav Nepal and Girija Koirala all want the MJF to split. Prachanda offered the Prime Ministership to Upendra Yadav without meaning to. Now Koirala and Nepal have put Gachhedar in the Deputy Prime Minister's chair with the sole intention of splitting the MJF. There is no other purpose.
• If Gachhedar is no longer a MP next year, he is going to be out of the political scene for the next four years.
  
• And the way things are looking, the Madhav Nepal led government might not last six months. Then what? Will he split the party just to be Deputy Prime Minister for a few short months? That is not worth it.

How To Seek Middle Ground?

• The number one thing for the two leaders to do is to meet in person. Stop talking through the media. Stop talking through supporters.
  
• Agree to seek middle ground.
  
• Upendra Yadav should come out fully wanting to participate in the Madhav Nepal government. A lot of his MPs are unhappy that he wants to stay out of the government.
  
• Upendra Yadav should even be willing to accept Bijay Gachhedar as Deputy Prime Minister for a few months. Strike out a compromise formula. Both Bijay Gachhedar and Upendra Yadav get powerful ministries. Bijay Gachhedar stays DPM for six months, then Upendra Yadav becomes DPM for the final six months.
  
• Bring back all the expelled leaders into the party fold.
  
• Claim unity.
  
• If they can do that, this will have been political jujutsu. You win over Nepal and Koirala at their own game. You fooled them into thinking you were fighting. And look what happened? The MJF got the Deputy Prime Ministership without being the second largest party.
  

Starting Point

The starting point for all further negotiations has to be that splitting the party is not an option. That will be political harakiri. If they split, both factions will end up being irrelevant in about a year. People will say, there used to be a Terai Congress, there also used to be a MJF.

I think Jay Prakash Gupta and Sharad Singh Bhandari could play important conciliatory roles right now.

Stay united now, and the MJF has a shot at the Prime Ministership next year. Split now and Yadav and Gachhedar are not even going to be MPs in a year.

In The News

MJF meeting venue turns into battleground; three lawmakers among those hurt NepalNews cadres of the rival factions engaged in violent clashes ...... Seven persons including three lawmakers of Gachchhadar faction, Durga Devi Sha, Kalawati Paswan and Karima Begum, who were leading the protesting group, were injured in the clash. ...... 26 out of the 35 central committee members are participating in the central committee meeting. ...... MJF has been virtually split with the Gachchhadar faction submitting the signatures of majority central committee members and lawmakers at the Election Commission on Tuesday
Gachchhadar informs EC he has majority in MJF Gachchhadar reached the commission office in Kantipath along with 17 central committee members and 29 lawmakers and informed the EC that he has support from 50 percent central committee members and 65 percent of the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (MJF) lawmakers.
PM Nepal extends olive branch to Maoists as latter reciprocates with pre-condition
MPRF toward vertical split after Gachchhadar faction claims official party Republica
MPRF toward vertical split after Gachchhadar faction claims official party
MPRF rival factions clash, 3 CA members injured Durga Devi Mahato, Kalawati Paswan and Karima Begam ...... supporters of the Yadav faction chased away the rival group with wooden sticks and targeted them with bricks. A motorcycle Begam was riding vandalized in the clash. ..... Organizing a press conference in the evening, the CA members beaten up in the afternoon said that they are hurt by the tendency of Madhesi leaders to hire gangsters to beat up Madhesi women. ..... Paswan said that she did not have any alternative to crying when an unruly mob dragged her in the middle of the road. ...... Durga Devi, another CA member injured in the clash, alleged that Upendra Yadav was not a leader of Madhesi people. “He spent almost nine months visiting abroad at expense to state coffers,” she said. “He has now become a treacherous leader instead of a messiah of Madhesis.” ...... She alleged that they were attacked in a planned manner as they did not sign papers as asked by party chairman Yadav to show a majority in his favor. ....... Altogether 16 of the 35 central committee members, led by parliamentary party leader Bijaya Kumar Gachchhadar, had filed a petition at the EC on Tuesday. “A majority has been shown by including the names of even those expelled by the party’s central committee,” he said. “That is meaningless.”
1. Chairman Upendra Yadav
2. General Secretary Ramsahay Yadav
3. Secretary Ratneshwor Lal Kayastha
4. Treasurer Renu Yadav
5. Lalbabu Raut
6. Mohammad Khalid Siddique
7. Mohammad Istiyaque
8. Abdul Jabbar
9. Ram Lal Sutiyar
10. Jay Prakash Yadav ´Rahul´
11. Rabindra Yadav
12. Ranju Verma
13. Dev Narayan Yadav
14. Ganesh Yadav
15. Sahashram Yadav
16. Shivaji Prasad Yadav
17. Kabuli Paswan
18. Bijay Yadav
19. Krishnadev Yadav
20. BP Yadav
21. Umesh Lal Dash
22. Arjun Thapa
23. Jagadish Singh
24. Nandan Datta
25. Dr Rambir Ray
26. Yogendra Sahni
JP Gupta in India
Chairman Yadav also termed Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and Nepali Congress President and former prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala as Indian agents. He claimed that the two party leaders have a main role in bringing the Madhesi People’s Rights Forum to the verge of a split. ...... A central committee meeting of the MPRF faction led by Yadav concluded in Birgunj Wednesday by passing a nine-point decision. ........ The meeting demanded formation of a national government for writing a new constitution and promoting inclusive democracy in the country. ........ The meeting also decided to take disciplinary action against four others, besides the seven CC members including the party’s parliamentary leader Bijaya Kumar Gachchhadar. The four are Rabindra Thakur, Nasir Siddhiqi, Asha Chaturbedi and Sanjaya Kumar Sah. The meeting formed a three-member election committee to pick a new parliamentary party leader. ....... another MPRF faction led by Gachchhadar also held its Central Committee meeting in Kathmandu Wednesday. ....... formed a three-member committee to look for a new party office. ..... Dev said the meeting also formed a five-member committee with Gachchhadar as head to finalize the power-sharing in the new government ....................... A leader said Joint-Chairman Jay Prakash Gupta is absent as he is currently in India. ..... Nehal Khan, vice chairman of the party´s Birgunj Municipality unit, distributed a list of the 26 members to reporters at the venue.
Gachchhadar claims majority in CC, stakes claim for being official The internal conflict reached a decisive phase last Thursday when Prime Minister Nepal appointed Gachchhadar deputy prime minister though the later´s name was not approved by his own party. ........ Gachchhadar said that the party can still remain intact if the action taken against the seven leaders is revoked. ..... CC members close to Gachchhdar said that they have not been invited to the CC meeting which is expected to endorse the action against the seven leaders. ...... A telephone interview of 32 CC members done by myrepublica.com on Monday had found 11 members supporting Gachchhadar. ........ Gachchhadar is now short of just two members for a majority in the party´s 35-member Central Committee. ....... According to Election Commission law, the faction with a majority of CC members behind it will have the party name, flag and election symbol. .... Gachchhadar also submitted the signatures of 29 CA members representing the MPRF to the Constituent Assembly, reinforcing his support to the government. MPRF has 53 members in the CA.
Neither faction has majority in MPRF central committee
Fight on for party's control in MPRF
MPRF toward vertical split after Gachchhadar faction claims official party