Coordinator of the newly formed CPN (Majority) has been kept under police surveillance.
"We have not taken him under control but the police have not left him either," Chief of Dang Police SP Suresh Kafle said revealing that the police have questioned Bastola about holding the election peacefully. "They apparently have the campaign of boycotting the election. There was a bomb blast in Butwal only yesterday."
The police stopped Bastola at Bhaluwang at four Thursday morning while he was travelling to west from east. He was reportedly travelling toward Surkhet, according to the police, and will remain under police surveillance until the election is completed.
The aggrieved leaders of Netra Bikram Chand led CPN including Bastola on May 9 formed the new party under Bastola claiming that Chand is getting mired in parliamentary quicksand.
Addressing the media Bastola said the new party was formed in response to the conspiracy by Chand to drag the party into the parliamentary quicksand by asking a few central members to contest the upcoming local election with election symbol of CPN-UML.
He stated that the party’s guiding policy would be completing scientific socialist revolution and it would propagate the slogan of the country’s prosperity and independence to that end. “The majority of us have left Chand and formed the new party having seen that the path adopted by KP Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal will not lead to completion of people’s revolution,” Bastola said.
The party pledged its commitment to the Maoist policy of taking from the people and giving that to the people, seeking the truth through facts, and maintaining the relation of fish and water with the people being water and the party cadres the fish.
The aggrieved leaders earlier on May 4 had expelled Chand from his party.
Chand’s expulsion came after he relieved secretariat members Hemanta Prakash Oli and Dharmendra Bastola of all party responsibilities on April 27 for defying the leadership.
The faction of Bastola and Oli holding a meeting in Chitwan on may 4 had expelled Chand and Spokesperson Khadga Bahadur Bishwokarma.
The party was recently divided on the issue of participation in the upcoming local election.
The central committee meeting in the third week of March had failed to take any decision about the issue with Chand and a few leaders in favor of participation while Oli, Bastola and others were against participation.
Party leaders and cadres filed candidacy as independents in Rolpa, Dang and other districts after the party could not take official decision on the issue.
Secretariat member Bastola had then issued a statement saying those filing candidacy will be punished.
Chand then relieved Oli and Bastola of all party responsibilities for defying the leadership.
“They have given interviews in an indisciplined and anarchic manner to media outside the party, resorted to naked factionalism amongst the cadres and demolished all norms and values of the party,” Chand stated issuing a statement on April 27.
Chand accused the two leaders of giving anarchic and pro-split interviews against the party’s decision to defend the decisions endorsed by the party after two meetings, and keep different positions, if any, in the party committee.
