UML Math: How ‘comfortable’ is it for Madhav Nepal?

KATHMANDU: After the re-establishment of the CPN-UML by the Supreme Court, Madhav Nepal, who was in crisis, is ready to return ‘home’ along with his group. Some leaders close to Nepal had suggested that he would be more comfortable with Prachanda than with Oli.

The Central Committee of the re-established CPN-UML and the arithmetic of the parliamentary parties, on the other hand, seem to be more comfortable for Nepal to exercise his power in the UML than to go with the Maoist Centre.

The parliamentary parties will not support Nepal to split the UML and go to the Maoist centre. He does not have 40 percent of the UML MPs. Even his aides like Lal Babu Pandit have already expressed that they are in favour of Oli.

But Madhav Nepal has a strong share in the UML Central Committee. Some of the central members of the 201-member Central Committee before the unification with the Maoists have died and some have gone vacant due to their constitutional positions.

UML Vice President Bidhya Bhandari became the President, Ganesh Timalsina the Speaker of the National Assembly, Agni Kharel the Attorney General, Dharmanath Yadav the State Chief and Sanukumar Shrestha the Speaker of Bagmati Province.

Similarly, Rabindra Adhikari, Mahin Limbu and Dinesh Chandra Yadav have passed away while Radha krishna Mainali and Prahlad Giri were expelled due to legal action. 

It is not clear which side Bamdev Gautam and Hari Parajuli are on from the remaining central members. Somnath Adhikari Pyasi has become the Province Chief. Similarly, Bansidhar Mishra and Mahendra Bahadur Pandey have become ambassadors. It is unknown at this time what will happen to their positions. 

Apart from these, 104 central members are in favour of KP Oli and 89 are in favour of Madhav Nepal. This number may go up or down after the final decision of the Supreme Court. But even though the Oli faction has a majority in the Central Committee on the basis of its affiliation before the dissolution of the UML, the Madhav Nepal faction also has a strong presence.

CENTRAL COMMITTEE MEMBERS 

Oli faction – 104 

1. KP Sharma Oli 
2. Ishwor Pokharel 
3. Bishnu Poudel
4. Prithvi Subba Gurung 
5. Pradeep Gyawali 
6. Subash Nemwang 
7. Kiran Gurung 
8. Chhabilal Bishwakarma 
9. Satya Narayan Mandal 
10. Shankar Pokharel 
11. Raghubir Mahaseth 
12. Bishnu Rimal 
13. Pushpa Kandel 
14. Keshab Badal 
15. Kashinath Adhikari 
16. Tham Maya Thapa Magar 
17. Binda Pandey
18. Bhanubhakta Dhakal 
19. Mahendra Pandey 
20. Yam Lal Kandel 
21. Radha Gyawali 
22. Lal Babu Pandit 
23. Karna Bahadur Thapa 
24. Gokul Gharti Magar 
25. Gorakh Bogati
26. Jagat Bishwakarma 
27. Dal Bahadur Rana 
28. Yubaraj Karki 
29. Yog Narayan Yadav
30. Sherdhan Rai 
31. Ishwari Rijal 
32. Ekraj Bishwakarma 
33. Kamala Devi Mahato 
34. Khagendra Rai 
35. Khimlal Bhattarai 
36. Khem Man Khadka 
37. Ganesh Singh Thagunna 
38. Goma Devkota 
39. Jagadish Prasad Kusiyait 
40. Dambar Singh Sambahamfe 
41. Najir Miya 
42. Padma Aryal 
43. Parbat Gurung 
44. Balbir Prasad Chaudhary 
45. Baijnath Chaudhary 
46. Bom Bahadur BK
47. Bhairab Sundar Shrestha 
48. Maheshwar Pathak 
49. Mayanath Adhikari 
50. Rajan Bhattarai 
51. Lal Bahadur Thapa 
52. Lila Giri 
53. Lilanath Shrestha 
54. Sher Bahadur Tamang 
55. Siraj Ahmad Farooqi 
56. Sita Poudel 
57. Sujita Shakya 
58. Surya Thapa
59. Sushila Nepal 
60. Hikmat Karki 
61. Gyan Bahadur Bhujel 
62. Krishna Gopal Shrestha 
63. Jaya Ghimire 
64. Devraj Ghimire 
65. Bijay Subba 
66. Suman Pyakurel 
67. Ram Dayal Mandal 
68. Ganga Yadav
69. Lal Babu Yadav 
70. Hari Narayan Mahato 
71. Pramod Narayan Yadav
72. Kishor Adhikari 
73. Khem Prasad Lohani 
74. Gulab Jung Shah 
75. Govinda Bahadur Nepali 
76. Tilak Mahat 
77. Taiyab Hussein 
78. Til Bahadur BK 
79. Puran Singh Dayal 
80. Prem Bahadur Ale 
81. Bina Shrestha 
82. Bhagawati Chaudhary 
83. Bhupendra Thapa 
84. Bhairav Bahadur Singh 
85. Mana KC 
86. Madhav Dhungel 
87. Mohan Baniya 
88. Ram Rati Devi Ram 
89. Ram Sharan Basnet 
90. Laxmi Pokharel 
91. Bishal Bhattarai 
92. Sher Bahadur KC
93. Sita Sundas 
94. Manav Bahadur GC 
95. Rup Narayan Shrestha 
96. Narad Muni Rana 
97. Manju Chaudhary 
98. Hari Rajbanshi 
99. Saroj Yadav
100. Mohammad Harun 
101. Juli Mahato 
102. Shanta Chaudhary 
103. Kapil Dev Pokharel 
104. Dr. Shiva Maya Tumbahamfe 

Madhav faction – 89 

1. Jhalanath Khanal
2. Madhav Kumar Nepal 
3. Yubaraj Gyawali 
4. Astalaxmi Shakya 
5. Bhim Rawal 
6. Ghanashyam Bhusal
7. Bhim Acharya 
8. Gokarna Bista ‘
9. Yogesh Bhattarai
10. Mukunda Neupane
11. Surendra Pandey
12. Amrit Bohora 
13. Arun Nepal
14. Ganga Lal Tuladhar 
15. Nagendra Chaudhary 
16. Pradip Nepal
17. Prakash Jwala 
18. Parshuram Meghi 
19. Pashupati Chaulagain 
20. Beduram Bhusal
21. Raghuji Panta
22. Rajendra Prasad Pandey
23. Ram Prit Paswan
24. Dr. Bijay Poudel
25. Shree Maya Thakali 
26. Gaura Prasai Koirala 
27. Jagannath Khatiwada 
28. Tul Bahadur Gurung 
29. Bhagwat Bishwasi 
30. Shatrughan Mahato
31. Garima Shah 
32. Chudamani Jangali 
33. Jayanti Rai
34. Jeevan Ghimire 
35. Jeevan Ram Shrestha
36. Tanka Karki 
37. Thakur Gaire 
38. Baldev Chaudhary
39. Mamata Giri 
40. Mahfuz Ansari 
41. Yagya Raj Sunuwar 
42. Rajendra Kumar Rai
43. Ram Kumari Jhankri 
44. Laxman Poudel
45. Bijay Gurung 
46. Birodh Khatiwada 
47. Bishwa Nath Pyakurel 
48. Sabitra Bhusal 
49. Sita Giri Oli 
50. Som Prasad Pandey
51. Shree Prasad Shah 
52. Kedar Neupane 
53. Kalyani Khadka 
54. Ghanendra Basnet 
55. Pramesh Hamal 
56. Ram Kumar Gyawali 
57. Ram Chandra Yadav 
58. Rabindra Baitha 
59. Yadubansh Jha
60. Dharma Nath Shah 
61. Ram Chandra Shah Teli 
62. Ratneshwor Goyit 
63. Kamal Jung Rai Danuwar 
64. Krishna Khanal
65. Ganesh Pahadi 
66. Dinesh Rai 
67. Dharma Raj Niroula 
68. Nira Jairu 
69. Prakash Shah 
70. Pratap Lal Shrestha 
71. Premal Khanal 
72. Madhav Aryal 
73. Metmani Chaudhary 
74. Rachana Khadka 
75. Rabin Koirala
76. Rajan Rai 
77. Raj Bahadur Budha 
78. Bikram Shahi 
79. Surendra Manandhar 
80. Som Mishra 
81. Hari Bahadur Rai 
82. Hansh Raj Shahi 
83. Khagendra Chudal
84. Jhapat Rawal 
85. Deuman Sambahamfe 
86. Dev Shankar Poudel 
87. Bhaskar Kafle
88. Sudhir Shah 
89. Sarala Yadav 

Neutral – 2

1. Bamdev Gautam 
2. Hari Parajuli 

Vacant – 12 

1. Bidhya Devi Bhandari, President
2. Ganesh Timalsina, National Assembly Chairperson 
3. Agni Kharel, Attorney General 
4. Dharma Nath Yadav, Province Chief 
5. Somna Pyasi, Province Chief 
6. Sanu Kumar Shrestha, Bagmati Province Speaker 
7. Rabindra Adhikari, Deceased 
8. Ramnath Dhakal, Deceased 
9. Dinesh Chandra Yadav, Deceased  
10. Mahin Subba Limbu, Deceased 
11. Radha Krishna Mainali, under legal action 
12. Pralhad Giri, under legal action 

Among the office bearers are Chairman Oli, General Secretary Ishwar Pokharel, Deputy General Secretary Bishnu Poudel and Secretaries Pradip Gyawali and Prithvi Subba Gurung Oli. While Vice Chairperson Bamdev remained neutral, other office bearers – Vice Chairperson Bhim Rawal, Ashtalakshmi Shakya, Yuvraj Gyawali, Deputy General Secretary Ghanshyam Bhusal, Secretaries Yogesh Bhattarai, Bhim Acharya and Gokarna Bista are part of the Madhav faction. 

In the parliamentary party, Oli has a two-thirds majority. Currently, there are 120 out of 121 UML MPs. Of them, 82 are in favour of Oli and only 38 are in favour of Madhav Nepal. 

PARLIAMENTARY PARTY

Oli faction – 82

1. KP Sharma Oli 
2. Ishwar Pokharel 
3. Bishnu Poudel 
4. Subash Chandra Nemwang 
5. Basanta Kumar Nemwang 
6. Lal Prasad Sawa (LP)
7. Rajendra Gautam
8. Rajendra Rai 
9. Ghanashyam Khatiwada 
10. Bhanubhakta Dhakal 
11. Bishal Bhattarai 
12. Lila Nath Shrestha 
13. Raghubir Mahaseth 
14. Parbat Gurung 
15. Bhumi Prasad Tripathi 
16. Khem Prasad Lohani 
17. Krishna Bahadur Rai 
18. Krishna Gopal Shrestha 
19. Mahesh Basnet 
20. Nawaraj Silwal 
21. Gokul Baskota 
22. Krishna Prasad Dahal 
23. Polden Chhepang Gurung 
24. Khagaraj Adhikari
25. Bidhya Bhattarai
26. Jagat Bahadur Sunar 
27. Krishna Kumar Shrestha (Kisan) 
28. Kedar Sigdel 
29. Narayan Prasad Marasini 
30. Padma Kumari Aryal 
31. Tilak Bahadur Mahat 
32. Prem Prasad Tulachan 
33. Bhupendra Bahadur Thapa 
34. Surya Prasad Pathak 
35. Padam Giri 
36. Pradeep Gyawali 
37. Chhabilal Bishwakarma 
38. Dal Bahadur Rana 
39. Brijesh Kumar Gupta 
40. Nanda Lal Roka Chhetri 
41. Hridayesh Tripathi 
42. Rabindra Raj Sharma 
43. Nawaraj Raut 
44. Lal Bahadur Thapa 
45. Prem Bahadur Ale 
46. Narad Muni Rana 
47. Ganesh Singh Thagunna 
48. Damodar Bhandari
49. Nar Bahadur Dhami 
50. Bhairav Bahadur Singh 
51. Bijay Subba 
52. Mohan Baniya 
53. Motilal Dugar 
54. Tham Maya Thapa
55. Dr. Shiva Maya Tumbahamfe 
56. Sujita Shakya 
57. Bina Shrestha 
58. Nabina Lama 
59. Shanti Maya Pakhrin 
60. Kumari Meche 
61. Radha Kumari Gyawali 
62. Binda Pandey
63. Goma Devkota 
64. Niru Devi Pal 
65. Man Kumari GC 
66. Bishnu Sharma 
67. Sarita Neupane
68. Maina Kumari Bhandari 
69. Tirtha Gautam
70. Shanta Chaudhary 
71. Bimala Bishwakarma 
72. Asha Kumari BK
73. Juli Kumari Mahato 
74. Rekha Kumari Jha 
75. Sarita Kumari Giri 
76. Sher Bahadur Tamang 
77. Yagya Bogati
78. Ram Bir Manandhar 
79. Dhan Bahadur Budha 
80. Tulasi Thapa
81. Lal Babu Pandit 
82. Bimala BK (Jhapa) 

Madhav faction – 38

1. Madhav Kumar Nepal 
2. Jhalanath Khanal 
3. Ghanashyam Bhusal 
4. Yogesh Bhattarai 
5. Raj Bahadur Budha Chhetri 
6. Parbat Kumari Bisunkhe
7. Dhruba Kumar Shahi 
8. Jeevan Ram Shrestha 
9. Ganesh Kumar Pahadi 
10. Sarala Yadav 
11. Pushpa Kumari Karna 
12. Krishna Lal Maharjan 
13. Narayan Prasad Khatiwada 
14. Krishna Bhakta Pokharel 
15. Maya Devi Neupane
16. Birodh Khatiwada 
17. Ram Kumari Jhankri 
18. Kalyani Kumari Khadka 
19. Yagya Raj Sunuwar 
20. Samina Hussein 
21. Jay Kumar Rai 
22. Metmani Chaudhary 
23. Hira Chandra KC 
24. Laxmi Kumari Chaudhary 
25. Bhawani Prasad Khapung 
26. Jhapat Rawal 
27. Nira Devi Jairu 
28. Dr. Deep Prakash Bhatta 
29. Kalila Khatun 
30. Som Prasad Pandeya 
31. Bina Devi Budhathoki 
32. Bhim Bahadur Rawal 
33. Mukunda Neupane 
34. Pabitra Niraula 
35. Ganga Chaudhary Satgauwa 
36. Gokarna Bista 
37. Surendra Prasad Pandey 
38. Gopal Bam