Internal conflicts within the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) between the factions led by Chairman Rajendra Lingden and those led by Vice-chairman Bikram Pandey and General Secretary Dhawal Shumsher Rana have also impacted the conventions of the party’s sister organizations.
The Pandey-Rana faction is dissatisfied, alleging that Chairman Lingden sacked some nominated office-bearers and unilaterally appointed representatives to conduct district conventions.
The factional disputes within the party have gradually spread to its sister organizations. Due to this conflict, the convention of the National Democratic Youth Organization in Kathmandu was disrupted on Wednesday.
Attempts were made to inaugurate the convention without finalizing the representatives for district conventions.
Youth members from the Pandey-Rana faction were outraged, claiming that their supporters were barred from being representatives and that the convention was being conducted unilaterally.
Chairman Lingden was invited as the chief guest to inaugurate the convention.
Before Lingden arrived at the convention venue in Dhumbarahi, the Jyoti Lama group from the Pandey-Rana faction had taken control of the stage. They vacated the stage after Lingden arrived, but continued to chant slogans.
Chairman Lingden called Lama near the stage to inquire about their grievances. Lama said that their faction’s supporters were prevented from participating as representatives and that the convention could not proceed in such a manner.
Even after that, the inaugural session of the convention could not move forward. Lama demanded the opportunity to present their concerns. Shortly afterward, a scuffle broke out between the youth members of the Lingden faction and the Pandey-Rana faction.
Chairman Lingden postponed the convention, saying it could not proceed under such circumstances. He said that an investigation would be conducted into those causing the disturbance and the convention would be held only after that.
After Lingden announced the postponement of the convention, youth members of the Pandey-Rana faction declared Lama as the chairman of the National Democratic Youth Organization and applied vermilion on him.
Amit Thakuri, incumbent chairman of the National Democratic Youth Organization’s Kathmandu chapter who is from the Lingden faction, was seeking re-election, while Lama was set to be the candidate from the non-establishment (Pandey-Rana) faction.
The RPP attempted to hold the Kathmandu district convention without resolving disputes in Kathmandu constituencies 2 and 6 of the National Democratic Youth Organization. According to an RPP office-bearer, parallel committees of the National Democratic Youth Organization already existed in the two constituencies.
Tension erupted as the party tried to hold the district convention without resolving the issue of which committee should be recognized as legitimate. The election committee had not even been provided with the list of representatives for the convention.
Although it had agreed to hold an all-party meeting to finalize the representatives and publish the voter list before proceeding with the convention, the Lingden faction tried to inaugurate the district convention directly without following the agreed-upon process.
As a result, the youth members of the Pandey-Rana faction halted the convention.
Chairman Lingden suspects that outsiders were also involved in disrupting the convention.
“This is not just about factions but about party discipline. We will investigate whether these youths are from the RPP or not. There are also reports that outsiders came to disrupt the convention,” Lingden said.
The Lingden faction has accused some youths close to Vice-chairman Pandey of disrupting the convention. It claims that those youths were previously involved in an assault on RPP leader Thakur Mohan Shrestha.
“It was evident that youths, including Kathmandu Constituency 4 chairman Riddhi Pratap Rana, came to disrupt the convention today. The disciplinary committee had suspended Riddhi Pratap for four years after he was found involved in the assault on leader Thakur Mohan Shrestha under Vice-chairman Bikram Pandey’s instructions,” said an office-bearer close to Lingden.
However, the Pandey-Rana faction claims that youths mobilized by the Lingden faction assaulted Riddhi Pratap Rana on Wednesday.
Riddhi Pratap Rana is injured after being attacked with a helmet on Wednesday.
“At the Kathmandu district convention of the National Democratic Youth Organization, goons mobilized by Chairman Lingden attacked chairman of RPP Constituency 4 and outgoing Kathmandu chairman of the National Democratic Youth Organization Riddhi Pratap Rana with a helmet, injuring him,” a leader from the Pandey-Rana faction said.
When asked why the convention was postponed, election committee coordinator Jayanta Nath Khanal told Setopati that Chairman Lingden himself postponed the convention.
“The chairman himself announced the postponement of the convention. The situation was such that the chairman was not even allowed to speak during the inaugural session,” Khanal said. “The voter list and election schedule for the district convention had not even been published.”
He added that due to some disputes, it had been agreed to hold an all-party meeting to finalize the representatives and then publish the voter list, but the process could not proceed accordingly.
“The district committee had not even handed over the voter list to us,” he said. Representatives from Kathmandu’s 10 constituencies, the metropolitan committee, and the provincial assembly constituency committee can participate in the district convention.
During the RPP’s general convention held in December 2021, Bikram Pandey was elected vice-chairman and Dhawal Shumsher Rana was elected general secretary. Although the date for the next general convention has not been set, activities within the RPP are underway as part of preparations for the general convention.
Lingden is preparing to run for chairman again in the upcoming general convention, while Pandey and Rana are also preparing to contest for the chairman’s position.
The factional conflicts centered around the general convention have recently fueled internal disputes within the RPP.
