The CPN-UML has started removing the image of Chairman KP Sharma Oli from posters of party events.
The UML is set to celebrate its 77th establishment day on Wednesday.
In the poster prepared for the event marking the establishment day of the Communist Party of Nepal, Chairman Oli’s photo has not been used.
Instead, the party has featured black-and-white images of founding figures such as Pushpa Lal Shrestha, Nar Bahadur Karmacharya, Niranjan Govinda Baidya, Narayan Bilas Joshi, and Moti Devi Shrestha.
Photos of Manmohan Adhikari and Madan Bhandari – which the UML had consistently used in the past – have also been removed this time.
Debates on leadership change have intensified within the UML. At a time when even secretariat-level leaders are suggesting the need to find an alternative to Chairman Oli, the removal of his image should be seen as significant, according to UML leaders.
Since the party came to power in 2014, Oli’s image had been used in all party events – from rallies and assemblies to general conventions, as well as by lower-level committees in banners.
However, after Oli was ousted by the Gen Z movement on September 9, the UML has gradually reduced the use of his image. Even in the recent election, UML candidates did not use Oli’s photo in their constituencies although the party had presented him as its prime ministerial candidate.
Previously, the UML followed a pattern of placing Pushpa Lal Shrestha’s image first, followed by Madan Bhandari and Manmohan Adhikari, and then including Oli’s image depending on the context.
In 2023, the UML had even issued a circular stating that, to maintain the dignity of events, public events organized by the party and its affiliates should not use images other than that of the party chairman.
The circular also included guidelines such as limiting stage use to speakers, seating guests and speakers respectfully in the audience, ending the practice of introducing and seating guests during events, avoiding unnecessary use of badges, garlands, and ceremonial scarves, and keeping events simple rather than extravagant.
Bishnu Rimal, then deputy general secretary of the party, said at the time that such a code of conduct had become necessary.
Interestingly, the foundation day poster made public on Tuesday by Rimal himself does not include Oli’s image.
