CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Deputy General Secretary Janardan Sharma took digs at each other during a party program on Wednesday.
Sharma, who staked claim for party general secretary but was snubbed by Dahal who picked Dev Gurung for the post, seemed to reject the post of deputy general secretary stating that he attended the program as head of the party’s organization department.
Speaking before Dahal in the election-centered ‘Revolutionary Force Announcement Program’ he also criticized Dahal stating that the leadership should act in the right manner. “I am someone who defends policy and the leadership. It is still my responsibility to defend the right policy and leadership. But it is also my demand that the policy and the leadership should move forward in the right manner,” he stated. “Our chairman is right here. I am the one who is the harshest critic and the vehement defender of chairman. I want to say this in front of you today. Chairman comrade would also reply from here only.”
He did not stop there and pointed that defending policy and the leadership does not mean not criticizing. “I am a critic of Comrade Dahal, I criticize. You should also criticize if Pancha Singh (chairman of the party’s student wing) commits mistake. The leadership cannot be protected by flattery.”
Dahal then responded that he played a role in both protection and development of Sharma. “Sharma talked about policy and leadership before leaving. What I want to tell you is Dahal had the main role in protecting and raising Sharma,” Dahal said. “I am in the leadership from the (time of) People’s War till now. Many things have happened for me. I now want to prepare hundreds of thousands of heirs.”
