Daily Report

More wars, this time in Nepalgunj, which is fast becoming the hotbed of Maoists after they declared that they were entering the new phase in their people’s war – a shift from rural warfare to attacks in the cities.

In Janakpur, a candidate for the upcoming polls, a member of the pro-royalist Nepal Sadhbhawana Party was shot dead by suspected Maoists in broad daylight. The city was apparently tense for a few hours, but normalcy returned soon. Everyone condemned the attack , especially the human rights groups as they have been told time and again by the RNA that they do not criticize with the same fervor violations committed by the Maoists.

Meanwhile, Madav Nepal and Bharat Mohan Adhikari remain under house arrest. GPK has called it a ploy to break the alliance by selectively releasing the leaders. That MKN is still under arrest while GPK is not clearly highlights who the government thinks is a bigger threat. If the Nepali Congress wants to become the main party in leading this new revolution, they must give more power to Narahari Acharya and Gagan Thapa. Most importantly, they have to democratize their own party.

Talking about threats, Pashupati Shamser is a non-threat. He made it a point to vociferously oppose some of the king’s new ordinances to enter into the political mainframe. He has been in the news for reasons he wouldn’t like to be in the news for – like the party split, the third after he assumed the chairmanship. The Election Commission has said that neither of the factions can use the plough as their election symbol.

The seven-party alliance consists of –
Nepali Congress (GPK)
Nepali Congress – D (Sher Bahadur’s)
NCP – UML (MKN)
Janamorcha, Nepal
Samyukta Janamorcha
Nepal Majdoor Kishan Party (Bijukchhe)
Sadhbhawana Party – Anandidevi (Hridayesh Tripathi)

If I am not wrong, Thursday is another Nepal Band, and in the week preceding the elections, a five-day Nepal band has been called by the Maoists.

Lastly, loadshedding can be fun, as I learnt yesterday when, because our computers were all down, we didn’t have to work till lunch.