BIKRAM RAI |
A lot of the fallout from Prime Minsiter Baburam Bhattarai's trip to India last week was muffled by the firecrackers over the Tihar holidays. But it has resulted in two clear outcomes: widening the acrimonious rift within his Maoist party, and bringing the Nepali Congress closer to the Maoists.
The irony of it all is that Bhattarai's faction of the ultra-left Maoist leadership is today closer to the centre-right NC than to comrades-in-arms within his own party. The Baidya faction is rolling up its sleeves for a Central Committee showdown this week, while Pushpa Kamal Dahal plays an ambiguous role as he himself is publicly ridiculed by his erstwhile ally, Ram Bahadur Thapa.
Bhattarai's strategy seems to be to get the NC on board before the CA term expires on 30 November, and use that as the basis for another six-month extension. However, NC leaders say there will not be enticed into government unless Bhattarai can convince his own party about dismantling cantonments and coming up with a flexible proposal on integration in the coming two weeks.
What is clear is that the prime minister has to now move beyond micro-managing Kathmandu's traffic snarls, inspecting eateries on the Prithvi Highway, and earnestly untangle the political deadlock as well as address the structural issues plaguing the economy. He has done just that by winning back India's trust and assuaged existing and potential investors.
But will the enemies within his own party allow him to succeed?
Kunda Dixit