Oli slams the door for Bidhya Bhandari, but how will she respond is not yet known

Kathmandu; In what could turn as a trigger point for intense infighting in the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist, Prime Minister and Party Chairman K P Sharma Oli exercised all his might to block Bidhya Bhandari’s return to the Party two years after she demitted the office of the President.

In a midnight show of muscles, and amidst protest from at least half a dozen senior leaders, Oli announced that the Party did not require the services of Bhandari at the moment, and her entry is not allowed.

UML Secretary General Shankar Pokhrel, a staunch supporter of Oli at present, told media that the membership that Bhandari had renewed nearly a year ago stood annulled, and that she was not welcome to the Party.

Oli apparently used all his influence in the past two days to create a situation to block Bhandari’s entry. Nepali Congress led by its Chairman Sher Bahadur Deuba opined that return of a former President who was also the ex-officio Supreme Commander of the Nepal Army was undesirable and unethical. Deuba also advised the UML to take a firm stand on the issue so that a bad precedence is not created.

Oli, at the same time, mobilised cc members and adopted a very hostile posture as the four day long CC meeting was drawing to a close. A vociferous group consisting of Surendra Pandey, Yubaraj Gyawali and Karna Thapa warned Oli that his stopping Bhandari’s entry to the Party was dictatorial and ‘it will back fire on him’.

Oli did not allow the protestors to write a note of dissent and abruptly announced end of the session leaving Bhandari with limited options; to surrender to Oli and bury her Political ambition or fight back to defeat Oli within the Party.