Splits in Madhesi political parties

Splits in Madhesi political parties

JIVESH JHA Altogether four Madhesi parties had participated in the Constituent Assembly (CA) elections of 2008. Now the number of Madhesi parties has soared up to 34 as the original parties went on their splitsville sprees while newer parties also came to existence. Political analysts and Madhesi people are of the opinion that greed for power and narcissist attitude among the senior Madhesi leaders were the root cause for the frequent splits in Madhesi political parties. Though the Madhesi People’s Right Forum-Nepal (MPRF-N) managed to capture the hearts and minds of Madhesi people and became the fourth largest political party in the last CA, it failed to maintain the status it had retained in the CA for long. The party has suffered as many as seven splits since its establishment. And Nepal Sadbhawana Party, which was once a single party, also suffered the same fate, splitting into 10 different fractions. JP Gupta who chairs the Tarai Madhesh National Campaign blamed the leaders of Madhesi parties for straying from the main agenda of the Madhes and the essence of the Madhes Movement. “Hunger for power is the main reason behind the splits of Madhesi parties,” said Gupta, who himself formed MPRF-Republican under his leadership after breaking away from MPRF-N. Gupta further attributed deeply rooted caste-based politics as another cause of split. “At a time when Madhesi parties, especially MPRF-N joined the CA, party leadership selected leaders for power sharing on the basis of caste overruling the capability of the selected ones,” claimed Gupta. He also added that the MPRF-N, the mother party, fragmented into many splinters because of caste-centered politics. He further asserted that yet another cause of fragmentation could be political ideology. “The MPRF-N leadership desired to work together with the UCPN (Maoist) while the other leaders within the party remained indifferent. The Party Central Committee (CC) was divided. Some said we should work together with democratic forces, while others wished to work with Communist forces,” insisted Gupta. He also believes that ideological tussles between the philosophy of Communism and democratic principle also came into play, resulting in Madhes-based parties’ fragmentations. Gupta also blames the opaque nature of the behavior of party leadership as another major cause of split. “The Madhesi parties left their agendas following splits after splits,” Gupta adds. “It (split) has become a means to power.” Likewise, political analyst Bijay Kant Karn claims that the Madhesi parties are not yet mature enough to deal with political games. “The Madhesi parties lack ideological orientation, don’t have any clear organizational structure, are devoid of institutional attachment and leadership that can hold sway over the people. Consequently, they are consistently giving birth to new parties,” adds Karn. Karn goes on to blame the establishment side for playing a key role behind the split following the old methods of divide and rule. “The establishment and major political parties always took Madhesi parties as power instrument for maintaining power balance. But they never tried to address the concerns of Madhes and the problems faced by Nepali people living in the plains of the Tarai region. The establishment seems to have a deep rooted psychological fear that ensuring rights to Madhesi people may turn to be counterproductive in the long run.” An example of former defense minister Sharat Singh Bhandari suffices to delineate on how much the establishment side is doubtful of Madhes agenda. “The former defense minister Sharat Bhandari took a stand on Madhesi youths that they should get representation in Nepal Army (NA) but his party leadership was indifferent to him. The result was that Bhandari quit MPRF-D and formed a new party, the National Madhes Socialist Party, (NMSP) of his own,” adds Karn. He also takes party fragmentation as an ordinary process or tendency. “Individual interests should be blamed for the splits,” he further says, adding, “No one should wonder if there will be more breakups among Madhesi parties in the days to come.” Political analyst Dipendra Jha also states individual interests as a big game changer behind the splits. “These Madhesi parties fragmented into many factions due to personal (individual) interests more than due to the differences in the agendas. In a bid to get the chair in the government, they split their parties,” says Jha. For Jha, individual ego among the senior leadership of the Madhesi parties could also be one of the leading factors for the fragmentation. “The leaders in different parties aren’t ready to work under the umbrella of any one senior Madhesi leader. Furthermore, they are also guided by their personal ego which they aren’t yet ready to give up for the sake of the people.” Jha further points out the lack of political culture in Madhesi leaders as another problem. “The leaders selected under PR were not politically matured, so they easily got involved in the split process for getting power,” claims Jha. For instance, Anil Jha formed a new party on his own by quitting SP in a bid to get ministerial portfolio in the Babu Ram Bhattarai-led government. He further added that though Madhesi parties share a common agenda, they are divided and split just because of putting individual interests. Similarly, political analyst Devesh Jha points out personal interest as a major cause of split. “In an effort to prove themselves as messiahs of the Madhesi people, Madhesi parties have proposed similar and ambitious agenda for the region. Their manifestos are but full of lofty plans that can never be realized in practice.” says Jha. He blamed the Madhesi parties for not walking the talk for the region they represent. “Though they follow the same democratic principles, they are divided in line with individual interests and greed for power,” maintains Jha. When asked about the impact of splits in the poll results, the analysts were divided. Political analyst Dipendra Jha said, “Madhesi parties wouldn’t have to suffer any loss from frequent splits. I’m sure they would secure more seats than in the previous elections.” However, he admits that the Madhesi community is disappointed with the Madhesi parties. “Even the hill community people are disappointed with the parties as they could neither deliver a Constitution nor development but the people of Tarai have an additional frustration by seeing the Madhesi parties giving up the Madhesi agenda,” says Jha. “Madhesi parties will win more seats as the number of Madhesi parties has significantly increased.” However, Devesh Jha opines that there would be serious impact in the poll result. “Madhesi parties would lose at maximum constituencies in the forthcoming November poll as they could not stand up to their words,” he adds. He further charges Madhesi parties of being opportunists. The voters of Tarai are disappointed with these parties, said Jha. “However, some high profile leaders, no matter to which ethnicity they belong, would get victory as their charismatic personalities would help them to win the race. But the same would not apply to all the candidates of Madhesi parties.” JP Gupta claimed that the candidates belonging major parties are in a close race in the Tarai constituencies. “Madhesi people’s sentiment is no more attached to Madhesi parties as they did nothing for them.” He envisages that the Madhesi parties would have to pay greater price in the upcoming election. Karna forwarded a different idea. “I accept that the Madhesi parties’ mistakes are intolerable as they left their agendas, but at the same time, other parties have also not done any substantial good for them, either. So the Terrai people are pointing finger at both Madhesi and non-Madhesi parties.” However, he also admits that the Madhesi parties would have to pay a big price if they will contest the poll separately. Madhesi parties in CA elections MPRF-N, SP, TMDP and NSP (Aanandi Devi) were the four Madhesi parties who participated in the last CA elections. But this time around, the number of the Madhesi parties contesting the poll stands at 34. However, MPRF-D, TMF and MPRF-R came into existence after split with mother party, MPRF-N. Split in SP led to the formation of FSP and Ram Naresh Ray-led National Sadbhawana Party. Similarly, yet another landslide came in NSP (Anandi Devi) giving birth to Sarita Giri-led NSP, Shayam Sundar Gupta-led NSP (United), Lok Dal, and Bikash Tiwari-led NSP (Gajendrabadi). Likewise, split in TMDP led formation of Mahendra Prasad Yadav-led TMDP-Nepal. Similarly, landslide in SP led formation of FSP and National Sadbhawana Party. However, Ram Naresh Ray-led National Sadbhawana Party and TMDP-Nepal have merged forming Tarai Madhesh Sadbhawana Party-Nepal (TMSP-N). Madhesi parties in forthcoming CA polls TMDP, MPRF-N, MPRF-D, SP, Mahendra Prasad Yadav-led Tarai Madhes Sadbhawana Party-Nepal (TMSP-N), Raj Kishore Yadav-led MPRF-R, Anil Jha-led Federal Sadbhawana Party (FSP), Sharat Singh Bhandari-led National Madhesh Socialist Party (NMSP), Amar Yadav-led Madhesh Tarai Forum (MTF), Rastriya Madhesh Bahujan Samajbadi Party, Tarai Madhesh Pahad Himal Ekta Party, Jantantrik Tarai Madhesh Mukti Tigers, Rastriya Bikash Party, Loktantrik Janata Party-Nepal, Federal Inclusive Socialist Party-Nepal, Nepal Progressive Democratic Party, Social Republican Party, Pichadabarg Nishad Dalit Janajati Party, Rastriya Janata Dal Nepal, Bishwa Satyabadi Party, Garib Ekta Samaj Party Nepal, Rastriya Madhesh Ekta Party Nepal, Rastriya Jan Bikash Party, Bhagyanath Gupta-led MPRF-M, NSP (Gejendrabadi), Nepal Youth Farmer Party, Nepal Socialist Party (Lohiyabadi), Nepal Madhesi Janata Dal, Lok Dal, Nepal Labour Party, Janata Dal Democratic Party, Democratic Party-Nepal, Naya Snghiya Janadharna Party, and NSP (United).