As Janata Samajbadi Rift Grows, So Does Uncertainty Over New Coalition
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WITHOUT F EAR OR FAVOUR Nepal’s largest selling English daily Vol XXIX No. 30 | 10 pages | Rs.5 O O Printed simultaneously in Kathmandu, Biratnagar, Bharatpur and Nepalgunj 34.5 C 3.5 C Saturday, March 20, 2021 | 07-12-2077 Bhairahawa Jumla As Janata Samajbadi rift grows, so does uncertainty over new coalition formation While the Thakur-Mahato faction of Janata Samajbadi Party supports Oli, the Yadav-Bhattarai faction wants to join hands with the Congress and the Maoist Centre. ANIL GIRI chair, and Bhattarai, president of the KATHMANDU, MARCH 19 party’s federal council, are against it. They are in favour of joining hands The possibility of plum ministerial with the Nepali Congress and the portfolios if it joins government—as Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist the key to Prime Minister KP Sharma Centre) to form the government. Oli’s bid to continue in power—has With its 32 votes in the House of apparently created a deep division Representatives (two of its 34 members within the Janata Samajbadi Party. are suspended), the Samajbadi Party is On Thursday top Janata Samajbadi the kingmaker. Party leaders, including Mahantha While officially the Maoist Centre Thakur and Rajendra Mahato, held continues to support the government a meeting in Kathmandu and formed as the incumbent Oli-led government a six-member task force to ‘settle was formed in February 2018 with its the outstanding issues’ of the unifica- backing, the Maoist-Centre could with- tion between Rastriya Janata Party draw support. Nepal and Samajbadi Party Nepal In that case, Oli would need just 16 to form the Janata Samajbadi Party in more votes to survive and the Rastriya April last year. Janata Party Nepal faction could On Friday it was the turn of provide that. That would mean that POST PHOTO: ELITE JOSHI leaders of the former Samajbadi Janata Samajbadi Party splits. A man carves the wood used in the chariot drawn during Bisket Jatra at Bhaktapur Durbar Square. The week-long Bisket Jatra, celebrated in Party Nepal, formed in May 2019 But leaders say the party is not Bhaktapur next month, marks the Nepali New Year and is the only festival that does not follow the lunar calendar as other Nepali festivals do. with a merger between Sanghiya going to split and it will make an The festival commences after a special tantric ritual in the Bhairab temple in Taumadhi Tole of Bhaktapur. Samajbadi Forum Nepal led by appropriate decision on government Upendra Yadav and the Naya formation when the time comes. Shakti Party led by former prime “For any new power sharing deal, minister Baburam Bhattarai to we are the decisive factor but we are hold its own meeting. not divided,” said Raj Kishore Yadav, a In a bid to boost While Thakur, chair of Janata leader of Janata Samajbadi Party. Rise in tiger numbers may Samajbadi Party, and Mahato, its “We are not going to split and will senior leader, are in favour of take an appropriate decision when tourism, Nepal lifts joining the Oli government, time comes.” Upendra Yadav, another party >> Continued on page 2 quarantine need for be good news but people vaccinated tourists in Bardiya live in terror Others visiting Nepal Nine people have been killed since July, three in March must stay in mandatory alone. Authorities say the victims had gone to the forest quarantine for a minimum for fodder but tigers are seen in human settlements too. of seven days upon arrival. SANGAM PRASAIN KATHMANDU, MARCH 19 Nepal has removed quarantine requirements for visitors who have got both doses of Covid-19 vaccine, a move aimed at boosting pandemic-de- pressed travel and tourism business. Tourism Minister Bhanubhakta Dhakal told the Post on Friday that the decision to remove quarantine require- ments for such foreign tourists was taken by Thursday’s Cabinet meeting. “The new guideline to visit Nepal will be implemented soon,” said Dhakal. Last week, the Tourism Ministry had proposed removing quarantine requirements for travellers who have received both doses of the vaccine and resume the on-arrival visa at Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan PHOTO COURTESY: BARDIYA NATIONAL PARK International Airport. In the past few days authorities have captured two tigers that killed people. It is, however, not clear whether the Cabinet has approved the ministry’s CHANDAN KUMAR MANDAL est victim of tiger attack. She was plan to resume issuing on-arrival KATHMANDU, MARCH 19 killed on Tuesday. According to park visas at the airport. officials, she was killed deep inside Taranath Adhikari, spokesperson Santa Kumar Shah has been living in the protected area where she had gone for the Tourism Ministry, said that constant fear for the last few months. to collect fiddlehead ferns. they were yet to receive a copy of the He has reason to. Three other people who had accom- Cabinet decision. A tiger has been regularly seen panied Rawat managed to flee. “We will make the details public prowling near his house in Bhagraiya On March 10, another woman was once we receive the copy of the deci- of Madhuwan Municipality, Bardiya. killed. Renuka Sunar, 27, of Kothiaghat sion,” Adhikari told the Post. “As per “I cannot gather the courage to in Madhuwan Municipality, too had the proposal, tourists coming to Nepal walk even in broad daylight,” said gone to a community forest adjoining have to submit documentation or Shah, 57. “Tigers have been attacking the protected area to collect fodder. cards as proof that they have been locals during the day.” Of the nine tiger attack victims, vaccinated. With no market nearby, he has to go four were women. Many countries have termed docu- to Orali Bazaar, a few kilometres away, “On Tuesday, women had gone ments of immunisation against Covid- even to buy daily essentials. inside the park which is an illegal 19 as vaccine passports. Some coun- It is not just Shah who is scared. activity as trespassing is not allowed tries have rolled out digital passports Most of the people living near Bardiya there,” said Ashim Thapa, informa- as well so as to facilitate travelling. National Park and the adjacent forest tion officer of the Bardiya National The trade group for global airlines, areas are too. Park. “Even earlier, such deaths were the International Air Transport Sudhan Tharu gets restless until reported from forest areas.” Association, is testing a version it calls her children return home from school. Before the two incidents within the Travel Pass. IBM has already devel- “I keep waiting for them to return span of a week, 62-year-old Lal oped a Digital Health Pass that is being home as soon as they leave for school Bahadur Chaudhary of Kalabanjar, trialled in the US as a health passport, in the morning,” said Tharu. “People Rajapur Municipality was killed in capturing Covid-19 test results, temper- have not been going even to each oth- Nawaranga Bajhpur Community ature scans and vaccine records. er’s places after sunset.” Forest, adjacent to Bardiya National There are several other private-sec- Communities around the national Park, where he had taken his cattle for tor initiatives globally to launch vac- park and adjoining forests have seen grazing, on March 1. cine passports to provide a safe way several tiger attacks, leaving local res- In January, a tiger from Bardiya for people to travel. idents dead and injured. National Park snatched 52-year-old Spokesperson and joint-secretary In this fiscal year alone, nine people Nandakala Thapa off a moving motor- Adhikari said that non-vaccinated have been killed in different parts of cycle while she was riding pillion with tourists entering Nepal have to submit Bardiya district, causing widespread her son at night time along the a negative polymerase chain reaction fear among local residents. Amreni-Chisapani stretch of East- (PCR) report. The report must show But park officials say that tiger West Highway that traverses the park. the test was conducted 72 hours prior attacks have occurred only in those In late October, a man in his late to their departure from the country of areas that fall under the park’s juris- fifties was killed by a tiger in Geruwa origin. diction—core areas of the park and Rural Municipality. Before that, in the As per the proposal, visitors have to buffer zone—and in areas that fall same month, two men from Madhuwan do another PCR test after arrival, and within the scope of Division Forest Municipality lost their lives in tiger before heading to their respective des- Office, Bardiya. attacks within a few hours in tinations in Nepal. Dalli Rawat, 62, of Mohnapur, Beljhundi Community Forest. >> Continued on page 2 Thakurbaba Municipality, was the lat- >> Continued on page 2 C M Y K SATURDAY, MARCH 20, 2021 | 02 NATIONAL As Janata Samajbadi rift ... >> Continued from page 1 House of Representatives. On Wednesday too, senior leaders On the other hand, the Samajbadi from the former Rastriya Janata Party Party Nepal faction is, in principle, Nepal had held a similar meeting to against joining hands with Oli as the discuss the future strategy of the party had called Oli’s move “undemo- Thakur-Mahato faction. cratic and unconstitutional” after he Ironically, the merger of the dissolved the House on December 20. Rastriya Janata Party Nepal and “Both RJPN and SPN had 17 parlia- Samajbadi Party Nepal last April was mentarians each and if Thakur and hastened by Oli’s issuing two ordi- Mahato decide to support Oli, then the nances–one related to the Political number [who support Oli] could even Parties Act-2017 which sought to ease reach 25,” said a leader from the rival provisions related to party split and Bhattarai-Yadav faction on condition registration of a new party.