Kathmandu, Nepal: Even though the Rastriya Janata Party Nepal (RJPN) has not made any formal decision to withdraw the protest program launched against of the second phase of local level elections slated for June 28, the party leadership has faced extreme pressure to do so.
As several leaders from the party have not only filed their candidacies as independents to contest in the second phase of the local elections but also begun to leave the party to join other parties, the party has no alternatives of either to correct the decision or to face the severe consequence in the party.
The party did everything to disturb the candidacy filing program on Sunday in Teria districts even exploding a bomb and imposing general strikes to foil the election program, but its local leaders fielded their candidacy in some Teria districts.
It is said that the RJPN leaders and cadres had filed their candidacy in more than 15 municipalities and rural municipalities of Kapilvastu, Rupandehi and Nawalaparasi districts. These three districts are considered as comparatively stronghold of the Tarai Madhes Loktantrik Party, one of the six constituents of the RJP. The patty had won two seats from Rupandehi in the second CA elections in 2013.
With the fielding the candidacy, the party has to turn its anti-election campaign into election campaigns in these three districts. The central leaders presented at Province 5 with intent to stop the cadres and local leaders from filing candidacy, but their efforts failed to bear any fruit.
Similarly, expressing serious dissatisfaction over the party leadership, central treasurer of the party Anita Yadav left the party to join in the CPN UML. She was welcomed by CPN UML chairman K P Sharma amidst a special function organized at the party headquarters in Dhumbarahi on Monday.
Earlier, RJPN Joint General Secretary Samim Miyan Ansari had joined the UML. The incident of leaving the party to join in the UML is taken meaningfully as the RJPN has been labeling the UML as the anti Madhesi party.
