KATHMANDU, July 20: The Rastriya Janata Party Nepal (RJPN) on Thursday decided to call the party's central committee meeting to resolve the internal differences over party leadership, manifesto and party organization. The decision comes in the wake of the party's several leaders from the western tarai are publicly criticizing the RJPN presidium for ignoring them and their constituencies. RJPN Vice Chairman Hridayash Tripathi has long been asking the party leadership to call a CC meet to hold open discussion on the internal rift.
RJPN top guns are expected to meet again Friday to determine the agenda and the date for the CC meet.
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"All issues being raised by Hridayaeshji and some other friends will be taken to the CC meet. Their main concern is over the party leadership. It will also be discussed at the meeting," said a member of the RJPN presidium.
Tripathi and at least three other leaders from the western tarai have demanded "respectable positions" in the party. Last week, disgruntled leaders had organized a separate meeting in Nawalparasi, signaling growing rift in the party.
The rift in RJPN first came to the fore after RJPN presidium announced to boycott the second phase of the local polls. Many leaders from the western tarai including Tripathi, Sarbendra Nath Shukla and Brijesh Gupta saw the boycott as a design to weaken them. Shukla and Gupta even urged their associates to field independent candidacies, disobeying the party's official decision.
But signs of internal rift had appeared well before the elections. Many leaders from the western tarai are dissatisfied over leadership as not a single leader from the region has been included in the presidium although Madhesi parties had won more seats from the region than the constituencies in the eastern region.
