KATHMANDU, August 11: With the announcement of the date for the elections to the House of Representatives and provincial assemblies, the chairman of Nepal Samajwadi Party (NESPA) and former Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai has intensified party meetings focused on elections.
Dr Bhattarai has intensified the process of meeting the leaders of the alliance and other parties to adopt a strategy on how to compete in the November 20 election. With the aim of getting results in his favor, Dr Bhattarai is throwing various 'election cards' at other leaders.
Dr Bhattarai went to Baluwatar with Mahendra Yadav, the second president of his own party, to meet Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba who is also the president of Nepali Congress, the largest coalition party, on Wednesday. And, on Thursday morning, Dr Bhattarai met with the chairman of the CPN (Maoist Center) Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Vice-chairman Narayankaji Shrestha.
Manushi Bhattarai, Prakash Man Singh cast their votes
According to a source, they reached Baluwatar and asked the Prime Minister Deuba for the help of the alliance to win the election in their constituencies, with the promise that they would help the alliance in other constituencies.
In his meeting with the chairman of the Maoist Center Dahal, Dr Bhattarai proposed an electoral alliance. “Either include us in the ruling alliance or or create an environment of alliance only with the Maoist Center,” Dr Bhattarai told Dahal.
“Both today’s and yesterday’s discussions have progressed in a very positive manner. In both discussions, the election strategy was discussed. It has been agreed to draw a conclusion from the next meeting," Dr Bhattarai’s aide Bishwa Deep Pandey told Republica. According to him, both discussions were focused on elections.
The discussions focused on the possible coordination among the parties during the elections - whether to join the ruling coalition or to form an alliance with the Maoists only. Experts say that the possibility of the second president of Nepal Samajbadi Party, Mahendra Yadav and Dr Bhattarai winning elections alone in Sarlahi and Gorkha is not the same as before. Both these leaders are likely to win the elections from their constituencies, it is said.
