Gautam’s political future elusive

By Our Reporter

The cabinet meeting on Monday evening has decided to recommend to President Bidya Bhandari to nominate Nepal Communist Party’s vice chairman Bamdev Gautam as the member of the National Assembly filling one vacant post left there.

Now, Gautam is confirmed to become the NA member, eligible to become a minister. However, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is still hesitated to assign Gautam as the minister, who had defeated the election to the post of the Member of Parliament. On the other hand, the party’s co-chairman Pushpakamal Dahal and senior leader Madhav Nepal are insisting Oli assigning Gautam as the minister.

Gautam himself is interested to become DPM along with the finance portfolio, which is vacant since Yubraj Khatiwada’s departure.

Gautam’s political future:

As Gautam is going to become a nominated member of the NA for six years, his dream to become a prime minister seems not going to be fulfilled as a nominated NA member cannot be the PM according to the constitution. However, it is possible only after an amendment in the constitution.

Nevertheless, the possibility of Gautam becoming a successor of Oli in the party cannot be denied.

If Oli will not contest the party election to the post of the chairman in the upcoming unity national convention, there is the possibility of a contest between Dahal and Nepal. Meanwhile, Gautam can be Oli’s candidate to the post of the party chairman, say some observers. Gautam may get this opportunity if he will fully support Oli. The fact is that Oli, although being a strong leader in the party, has not been able to produce strong successor at the par of Nepal and Dahal, representing late paramount UML leader Madan Bhandari’s People’s Multiparty Proletariat, which Oli has adopted.

Establishing a wrong practice:

In the process of developing a strong front against PM Oli, Nepal and Dahal provoked Gautam to become an influential minister through a government nomination to the National Assembly. A defeated candidate wishing to go to the parliament from the back door is against the spirit of the constitution. Again, Gautam is being nominated from the seat reserved for the “well-recognized personality on their field” instead of waiting for almost two years for the next general elections. All NCP leaders are responsible for violating the constitutional spirit. Again, assigning Gautam as the minister will be the blunder to be committed by the party against the constitution. Leaders in the ruling party enjoying virtually a two-thirds majority have felt that they are all-in-all and believe that they are above the constitution.

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