Kathmandu, May 30: The Rastriya Prajatantra Party, which observed its establishment day on May 29, seems to have heading for a split again.
On Saturday, May 30, its former chairman Kamal Thapa urged for keeping the party unified by resolving internal disputes.
However, dissatisfied from the present leadership, General Secretary Dhawal Shumsher Rana is reportedly preparing to form a new political party. He has announced his resignation from the post of General Secretary of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party and is moving ahead with plans to establish a new party.
Having expressed dissatisfaction for a long time with the leadership style of RPP Chairman Rajendra Lingden, Rana has called a meeting of his close associates at Yellow Pagoda in Kathmandu on Monday to discuss the new initiative. According to leader Daman Basnet, who is close to Rana, the gathering is expected to formally determine their future course of action.
Basnet said that preparations are underway to announce a mass resignation following Monday’s meeting.
“The RPP no longer functions like a political party. It has become merely a platform for Rajendra Lingden and Gyanendra Shahi to do as they please,” Basnet said.
According to Basnet, around 100 leaders, including the General Secretary, are expected to resign from the party collectively on Monday.
According to sources, former minister and leader Dilnath Giri, along with Dil Bikash Rajbhandari, Daman Basnet, Sagun Lawati, and Narayan Koirala, have been actively involved in the split.
Sources further claim that discussions are underway to give the responsibility to businessman Durga Prasai as the party’s supreme commander and Dhawal Shumsher Rana as its chairman.
Senior RPP leaders have reportedly attempted to prevent the split but have been unsuccessful. Sources say that on Sunday, Prakash Chandra Lohani and Kamal Thapa met with Rana at Lohani’s residence and spent considerable time urging him to remain in the party.
Likewise, Pashupati Shumsher Rana also requested him not to leave the party and to wait until the upcoming general convention. However, Rana reportedly rejected these proposals, accusing Chairman Rajendra Lingden of failing to run the party according to its statute and of having no intention of holding the party convention.
Sources say the proposed new party also plans to include monarchist and nationalist figures such as Swagat Nepal, Geeta Rana, Santosh Rajabadi, and Pashupati Khadka.
RPP spokesperson Mohan Shrestha said that Rana is a responsible party leader and expressed confidence that, at a time when everyone should be working together to build the party into a viable alternative political force, he would not choose the wrong path.
People’s News Monitoring Service.
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