Journo murder case haunts UCPN (Maoist)

DAILEKH, NOV 02 -

As a CPN-UML leader, Tej Bahadur Chand had actively rallied against the cadres of UCPN (Maoist) and the CPN-Maoist involved in the 2004 murder of journalist Dekendra Raj Thapa in Dailekh .

The UML hopeful joined the UCPN (Maoist) not long ago. The party gave him the election ticket for Dailekh -1, that the UML had denied him.

Today, Chand has changed his opinion about Dekendra’s murder, in which nine UCPN (Maoist) and CPN-Maoist cadres have been convicted.

The candidates from UML and Nepali Congress, meanwhile, are using Dekendra’s murder as a case against the UCPN (Maoist) in their election campaigns.

Chand, on the other hand, is facing the questions on the journalist’s murder raised by the electorate. It is a trying situation for the UCPN (Maoist) contender.

“Dekendra was innocent and our party has already apologised for the incident. There is no point bringing up the case and it is unfair to use it for election gains. Let the court decide,” Chand said.

Not that the UML and the NC are using Dekendra’s murder for the first time to turn the voters against UCPN (Maoist).

The issue was widely raised by the two parties in the 2008 polls as well. NC candidate Ganesh Bahadur Khadka was elected fromDailekh -1. UML’s Raj Bahadur Buda won from Dailekh -2.

The UCPN (Maoist) has difficulty winning the elections fromDailekh this time too. Moreover, the party split has weakened its organisation. The NC and the UML are using Dekendra murder case and Maoist disintegration to their full advantage.

“Don’t vote for the party responsible for burying an innocent man alive,” declared Ganesh Prasad Upadhyay, the NC’s regional president, in an assembly organised recently at Dekendra’s village in Narayan Municipality.

Rabindra Raj Sharma of the UML claimed that the UCPN (Maoist) will lose from both the constituencies in Dailekh as the public sentiment is against the party. “The people know that the Maoists have killed many innocents like Dekendra. They are not going to vote for such a party.”

A school of thought, however, believes that the approach taken by the NC and the UML against UCPN (Maoist) could possibly backfire, for both the UCPN (Maoist) and the CPN-Maoist are involved in the case.

The fact that the NC and the UML are using the murder to draw voters is also the issue that could bring the two Maoist parties together.

A member of the UCPN (Maoist) Bheri Karnali State Committee said the party is already in talks with the CPN-Maoist for the latter’s support in the upcoming CA elections.

“Some CPN-Maoist leaders have responded positively to the proposition. No matter what happens in other districts, we have faith that the CPN-Maoist will support the UCPN (Maoist) inDailekh ,” he said.