Respected Leader of the CPN (Unified Socialist) Jhala Nath Khanal has said that the rebellion within the CPN-UML was a mistake.
In an interview with journalist Jagadish Kharel on Image Television, Khanal expressed this realization, saying, “I’m reaching the point where I feel the party split was wrong. The rebellion in UML hasn’t been justified so far. Its lack of justification means it was a mistake. That’s how I feel.”
Khanal described the UML as a strong institution of the communist movement.
“The UML is an institution. It had been made a good institution of the Nepali communist movement,” he said. “Leaving that institution and rebelling against it was wrong.”
He emphasized the need for unity among Nepal’s leftist forces. “That day will come,” he said. “The day will come when these very leaders realize they made a mistake.”
During the interview, Khanal commented that it was not unusual for former president Bidya Devi Bhandari to return to politics.
“It was not unnatural for a former president to say they’ll remain active in politics. I consider it natural,” he said. “Bidya Bhandari has already said she’ll become UML’s chairperson. When someone claims the chairperson’s position, the person who wants to continue as chairperson felt challenged.”
Khanal acknowledged that party Chairman Madhav Kumar Nepal has stopped consulting him.
He revealed that he was not formally informed about the proposal for unification with the Maoist Center or Bamdev Gautam’s joining the party.
“Some things were indeed not known to me,” Khanal said. “I was not informed. Formal discussions could not take place among the party’s leaders and committees.”
Khanal also said that the groundwork for unification with either the Maoist Center or the UML has not been established.
