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MJF internal dispute deepens

The internal feud in Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (MJF) seemed to have reached new height Saturday with opposite factions refusing to soften their position over their participation in the new government.

Party chairman Upanedra Yadav has trashed parliamentary leader Bijaya Kumar Gachchhadar's claim to lead the party in the government while Gachchhadar sticks to his claim. Talking to reporters at the party central office at Sankhamul, Yadav said only the central committee would decide whom to choose as the party's leader in the government and that Gachchhadar's 'campaign' was illegitimate.

Yadav also warned of withdrawing support to new government if other parties in the new coalition ignored the official decision of the party, pushing it to the brink of split.

Meanwhile, Gachchhadar held a brief press conference after the central committee meeting, raising serious objection to Yadav's comments. He said he would register a 'historic' note-of-dissent if the party decided to withdraw its support to the new government. The central committee meeting ended inconclusively.

Gachchhadar said the central committee was unlikely to resolve the differences and reiterated that he was the party's leader in the government.

Yadav and Gachchhadar are at loggerheads right after the collapse of the Maoist-led coalition. Dispute intensified after Gachchhadar submitted the signatures of majority MJF lawmakers in favour of Madhav Kumar Nepal as the new Prime Minister when the party was still to officially decide its position.

Gachchhadar is learnt to have already handed over the list of MJF's ministerial team, led by himself, to PM Nepal, a move that has irked the party establishment. nepalnews.com mk May 30 09