Seeking corruption-free politics in Nepal, former Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai will launch a new political party on Sunday in Kathmandu. The new party named Naya Shakti-Nepal, will take off from the Naya Shakti think tank that Mr Bhattarai launched in November 2015 after resigning from the Unified Communist Party of Nepal – Maoist (UCPN)
Baburam Bhattarai who was the chief ideologue of the Maoists in Nepal led the Peoples government between 1996-2006 and became Prime Minister of the country between August 2011 to March 2013. He quit the party in November 2015 due to growing differences with the emerging trends in the party. Since forming the Naya Shakti think tank, Mr Bhattarai undertook a series of travels across Nepal and also met Nepali diaspora abroad seeking support for his political project.
“We have focused on five core commitments that will answer the pressing developmental needs of Nepal. There is an urgent need to build social cohesion in Nepal in the context of the Madhesi protests which has been going on for the last nine months. Our party will emerge as an alternative to the corruption tainted politics of Nepal,” said Khimlal Devkota, Spokesperson of Naya Shakti – Nepal.
Mr Bhattarai also invited a group of Indian parliamentarians and political activists led by Rajya Sabha member Devi Prasad Tripathi who will attend the inauguration of the new party in Kathmandu. However Mr Bhattarai is facing criticism for not owning up to his role in the violent decade of 1996-2006 when Nepal experienced civil disturbance.
“The new party is part of a strategy of Mr Bhattarai to avoid accountability in the violence which shook Nepal for a decade. His new party will be used to dump his baggage of Maoist past,” said seasoned critic and journalist Kanak Mani Dixit.
