Of the Maoists' Electoral Surge in Nepal!

Niraj Aryal, Kathmandu: There cannot be simply a single reason for the Maoists’ dramatic constituent assembly election victory in Nepal.

Plausible it is that the City dwellers- who do not know in essence what the Maoists are, most probably voted for a change. They had simply enough of Koirala and his ilk and irritated of uninterrupted and boring lectures coming form the feudal leaders representing the so called democratic communist parties of Nepal.

But what about the rural population-that the Maoists took control over for all along a decade, what they voted for? Did they vote for a change? Obviously not, because they were the ones who were close to the Maoists for so long as we the city dwellers were taking note of the so-called mainstream political parties of Nepal. Then, for sure it was for the Maoists positive acts such as making people aware of their rights, their inclusion into the System, their development needs and others and more so the Maoists move for the societal change, they voted for. If it is also not the case then the Maoists electoral surge is the result of threat, intimidation and violence. Finally, the rural population wanted peace at any cost be it that the ex-rebels rule the country absolute.

There is another point as well- the C.K. verdict!

Election campaigning, Ideological Strength, leadership quality, Organizational structure and vision…

“Allocate some points to all the parties in the categories outlined above. The Maoists will certainly top the list. In such a scenario the results were obvious”, said C. K. Lal- a political analyst and a prolific writer talking to a local television channel the other day.

Thus the Maoists victory.

The election results are indeed, a big surprise for the party itself first, followed by as says Comrade Bhattarai-the Maoists second man in command, to the Narayanhiti dwellers, the Indian establishment and even to the movers and shakers stationed in Pentagon.

Narayanhiti is the most hit. If the Maoists act upon their words which they would at any cost then King Gyanendra is already packing. Comrade Bhattarai in his maiden speech after the victory reiterated his party’s commitment, “there is no place for monarchy”.

The conspiracy theory- the UML and NC tilted media have something more to say, “King Gyanendra met Prachanda just two days ahead of the election thus the King’s surprising message to the nation for the successful conduct of the election and bla..bla...bla…. Time will only tell.

The foreign media boycott more so the Indian media, to this époque making event in Nepal does also tell that Dr. Bhattarai who is considered close to the Indian establishment, was right when he said earth under the feet of the South block mandarins have begun shaking with Nepal getting RED painted all over the Nepalese walls. It is altogether a different matter that Pranab Mukherjee, the Indian Foreign Minister has already uttered words in favor of working in close contact with the Maoists in Nepal though Indian media write-ups call the Maoists victory in Nepal as an out and out Indian intelligence failure. The Maoists counterparts in India have reasons to cheer from this Red tide in Nepal.

Of the far-flung Pentagon, not much to say, except that it will continue to see Nepal through Indian eyes.

Posted on : 2008-04-16 06:54:54

Comments (1)