The internal power struggle between CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Deputy General Secretary Janardan Sharma is currently at its peak.
Amid this conflict, a standing committee meeting of the party is being held on Friday.
How this conflict will manifest is of interest to not only leaders and cadres of the Maoist Center, but also those of other major parties and many who follow politics.
"How this confrontation will manifest in the meeting depends entirely on Chairman Prachanda's [Dahal’s] wishes. But the confrontation and internal struggle between the two leaders will not stop now," said a leader close to Sharma. "The chairman is trying to sideline him [Sharma] in any way possible, while he is moving toward eventually taking leadership from the chairman through struggle within the party."
Both Dahal and Sharma are aware of each other’s intentions.
When he was prime minister, Dahal told Sharma twice to "leave the party."
In response, Sharma retorted, "The time has come for you, not me, to leave the party now. You leave, and we’ll run it."
Amid such bitterness and confrontation between the two leaders, the standing committee meeting starting Friday has an agenda of "strengthening internal unity."
Party Vice-chairman and spokesperson Agni Prasad Sapkota told Setopati, "The issues of organizational strengthening and consolidating internal unity will also be discussed in the standing committee meeting."
Whether this meeting will resolve the misunderstanding between the two leaders or further escalate it has become the biggest topic of interest within Maoist circles.
Leaders close to Sharma say the matter now depends on Chairman Dahal’s stance, commitment, and behavior. Dahal has already made a lot of effort to ensure Sharma leaves the party without the blame falling on him.
Leaders close to Sharma accuse Dahal of using state machinery to harass him.
"After failing to finish Janardan off politically, the chairman tried to suppress him using state power when he was prime minister," said a leader. "State agencies were mobilized to harass him, even to the point of torture."
Dahal tried to intimidate Sharma by "unleashing the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority" against him, but it didn’t work, the leader said.
"There was no fault on his part; otherwise, the chairman would have finished him off," the leader said. "That’s when Janardan launched a campaign to investigate everyone’s property within the party."
According to the leader, Sharma told his close associates during discussions that "the chairman stooped to mobilizing state organs to destroy me and inflict torture."
Since then, the conflict between Dahal and Sharma has continued to spill into the public domain.
During a public meeting held on May 20 in Chaurjahari of Rukum-West as part of the “Maoists with the People” campaign centered on the Mid-Hill Highway, Dahal said in Sharma’s presence, "The people won’t abandon the party just because one or two leaders leave the party or get swayed and go elsewhere."
Dahal did not name anyone, but the statement was clearly directed at Sharma.
Sharma has since demanded internal discussions on the remarks made by Dahal in Rukum, but it has not been heard so far.
What gave rise to such intense conflict between these two leaders?
Leaders close to Sharma say Dahal feels "threatened" because Sharma has consistently raised issues of democratization and elections within the party. Sharma has long advocated for party operations to be rule-based, leadership selection through elections, and party transformation.
Dahal has unilateral control over party office-bearers and the standing committee. However, Sharma’s influence has been growing in party organizations and sister organizations, making Dahal increasingly wary.
Dahal, who has led the party uninterruptedly for three and a half decades, has always sidelined his main rivals. After Baburam Bhattarai and Mohan Baidya left the party, he was almost unchallenged.
"After returning to parliamentary politics, Prachanda considered Baburam his main rival. After Baburam and many other leaders left, Prachanda wanted to lead the party unchallenged forever," said a Maoist leader. "But this plan started facing obstacles from the eighth general convention onward. Janardan led this resistance, making him disagreeable to Prachanda."
Sharma was in favor of direct elections for party office-bearers during the eighth general convention in December 2021. Dahal, however, declared himself chairman and later handpicked the office-bearers.
At the time, Sharma and Barshaman Pun were considered contenders for general secretary. Pun was absent from the convention as he was undergoing treatment in China.
After returning from China, both Pun and Sharma met Dahal and said, "You can make either of us general secretary; we accept it."
Dahal, who had been strengthening his position by pitting Sharma and Pun against each other, appointed Dev Gurung, who had less influence in the party and wouldn’t challenge him, as general secretary. He confined Sharma and Pun to deputy general secretary roles.
After this, Pun, once considered to have a strong nationwide organizational hold, adopted a strategy of aligning with Dahal.
On the other hand, Sharma, who was already aware of Dahal’s intentions, intensified his campaign for party transformation and purification. He also began organizing those within the party who were dissatisfied or denied opportunities. The issues of transformation and elections were—and still are—dear to many in the Maoist Center.
"There are far more people in the party who don't get opportunities than those who do. Opportunities are scarce as it is," Maoist leaders say. "Janardan has now expanded his influence nationwide by organizing such people."
They claim Sharma has at least surpassed Pun’s influence.
Members of Sharma’s faction say the success in the ANNISU-R election, the Youth Communist League (YCL) convention, and the appointment of their allies in the leadership of the Karnali and Koshi provincial party committees have further energized his side.
Riding this enthusiasm, Sharma is now openly challenging Dahal. Meanwhile, his political rival Pun has clearly sided with Dahal.
The Maoist Center had decided to hold its general convention in December this year. But Sharma’s allies accuse Dahal of trying to postpone it. They claim Dahal is rushing to unify with parties like the CPN (Unified Socialist) to avoid holding the general convention.
A central member revealed that Dahal’s clear intention is to merge with another party so that he could avoid holding the general convention and, under the pretext of a "unity convention," remain unchallenged in the party leadership.
Meanwhile, Dahal has also tried to demand an explanation from Sharma and then sideline him after some time through disciplinary action, a leader said.
"That was stopped due to pressure and dissent from leaders like Narayan Kaji Shrestha," the leader said.
After Dahal’s remarks in Chaurjahari that "nothing will happen even if some leave the party," a visibly angry Sharma raised his finger in protest right in front of Dahal at the event.
According to leaders close to Sharma, he had met Dahal immediately after returning to Kathmandu from Rukum. In that meeting, Dahal reportedly told him, "Now you go your own way," and asked him to leave the party.
In response, Sharma challenged Dahal: "I won’t leave the party just because you say so. But now I won’t let you sleep peacefully either."
He then walked out of Dahal’s residence in Khumaltar, the leaders said.
Since then, Dahal has shared this matter with many leaders from both his and Sharma’s factions. A leader from Koshi, who recently met Dahal in Kathmandu, said Dahal’s current interactions within the party are entirely focused on preventing Sharma from gaining ground.
"The chairman has been telling everyone in meetings not to engage in factionalism or polarization. He told our group the same thing," the pro-Dahal leader from Koshi told Setopati. "In that context, he also mentioned that Janardan had threatened him, saying, ‘I won’t let you sleep peacefully.’ The chairman believes Janardan will now do everything possible. That’s why he seems very worried."
As the leader mentioned, Dahal has continuously accused Sharma of trying to split the party. He has publicly alleged that "conspiracies and sieges against the party and leadership are being orchestrated under the instigation of brokers and reactionaries."
The Pushpalal Jayanti this time became an occasion that strongly hinted at, in Dahal’s words, "conspiracies and sieges against the party and leadership."
On July 22, the School of Marxism had organized a seminar at the Rastriya Sabha Griha in Kathmandu, where Sharma openly criticized Dahal. He said that democracy within the party had almost vanished, only centralism remained, and that this had given rise to orders, sycophancy, and authoritarianism.
At the event, Sharma said, "Marx and Mao considered the two-line struggle an important weapon within the party. But today, speaking about the main leader causes problems. There’s no democracy in the party today, only centralism. There are orders, sycophancy, and authoritarianism."
Sharma didn’t stop there. He even alleged that corruption was taking place with the knowledge and protection of the main leader.
While mentioning his proposal for investigating leaders’ assets within the Maoist party, he said, "Except for Manmohan Adhikari, all other leaders in the country have engaged in extortion. There has been extortion. This is not an accusation."
The next day, July 23, the Socialist Front also held a seminar in Kathmandu in memory of Pushpa Lal. There, Dahal responded to Sharma.
Targeting Sharma while claiming that democracy still existed in the party, Dahal said, "Even now, some comrades are acting as if they want to lock horns a bit. I’ve given him the freedom to lock horns if he wants. I took him along across the country for one and a half months for consultations. What more can be done for democracy?"
Dahal didn’t stop there either.
On July 26, while addressing the fifth assembly of the Gulmi-Kathmandu liaison forum in Kathmandu, he said attempts were being made again to weaken the Maoist movement and leadership.
"Efforts are being made once more to besiege and destroy the party," Dahal said. "Some comrades have been misled by this. Reactionaries are now investing in and inciting certain individuals to spread falsehood against the movement."
The same day, at a training program organized by the teachers' Federation in Sitapaila, Dahal said that the Nepali Congress and UML were facing major ideological and political crises. Without naming Sharma, Dahal accused him of being "propped up by brokers."
"There is no ideological or political crisis in our party due to the dissatisfaction or frustration of a few individuals or the provocation of brokers. There is no leadership crisis either," Dahal said.
After a few days of silence, Sharma could no longer remain quiet.
On Tuesday, writing on social media, he once again aggressively targeted Dahal. He expressed dissatisfaction over the continuous propaganda from the top that the party would split.
"I urge everyone to be vigilant against those who, for the past two years, have been sowing confusion among party cadres and the public by constantly spreading rumors from the top that the party will split," he wrote.
Sharma also called for debates within the party centered on agenda, referring to last year’s decision to hold a special general convention within six months (by December) after discussions in the central committee following consultations in all provinces.
After Sharma and Dahal traded barbs at Pushpa Lal Memorial events, polarization within the Maoist ranks has become evident. Leaders from the central committee to various organizations affiliated to the party have been openly taking sides on social media.
Dahal’s allies say Sharma sees Dahal as authoritarian only when he himself doesn’t get opportunities. They have also demanded scrutiny of Sharma’s financial growth.
A youth leader close to Dahal accuses Sharma of trying to blackmail Dahal for bargaining.
"It’s his old habit to threaten or bluff to get what he wants," the leader said. "Just wait and see, this time too, Janardan will end this drama after getting something."
Sharma faction leaders, however, deny this. They say Sharma has repeatedly stated in internal discussions that he no longer has any positional aspirations and that his main agenda is strengthening and purification of the party.
They argue that this campaign has gained momentum because leadership debates are necessary within the party.
Maoist Center Secretary Ram Karki says all parties, big and small, are currently facing similar crises.
"Crises exist in all parties, big and small. But people only pay attention to the big parties," he said.
He said almost all parties are facing deadlock, and the Maoists are no exception.
"Now, it seems necessary to create a good forum for debate within our party too," Karki said.
When asked about Dahal’s statement allowing Sharma to “lock horns," Karki added, "What he said and in what context, I have nothing to say about that."
Karki also said Nepal is currently striving for a progressive way forward.
"There should be debates with ideas. Transformation cannot happen without ideas. New ideas must replace old ones. There is no alternative to this," he said.
