Middlemen Mingle With Left Leaders

In 2018, when two communist parties – CPN-UML and CPN-Maoist Centre – unified to become the largest party, this had generated red momentum in the country. Prior to their unity, the two parties had forged an electoral alliance, enabling them to secure a near two-thirds majority. However, this success story of the Nepali left proved short-lived following the factional feud and the dissolution of the communist-majority parliament twice.

But a photograph of the top leaders of two parties taken during the signing of unification deal has exposed a dark side of communist leaders. It shows the presence of controversial businessman Deepak Bhatta as a mediator 0 of the historic agreement. Bhatta has been in the police custody for the investigation of his alleged involvement in money laundering and multiple financial fraud cases. The Money Laundering Investigation Department and the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police have sought to confiscate over Rs. 26.63 billion from him. He has earned notoriety as a bichauliay (middleman) who reportedly pulled the strings in making or breaking governments.

Paradox

It is a sheer paradox that Bhatta became a darling of communist leaders. Bhatta’s presence in the inking of the UML-Maoist Centre agreement implies that he had played a role in bringing the two communist forces together to fulfill his vested business interest. In hindsight, it can be said that the euphoria generated among the supporters of the two parties following their merger was innocuously fake as the top leaders used it to manage their private ego. The very photo shows there was the presence of a limited number of leaders - UML chair KP Sharma Oli, its former general secretary Bishnu Paudel, the then Maoist Centre chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda, Maoist leader Janardan Sharma and Oli’s personal secretary Rajesh Brajacharya during the agreement. While Bhatta and Brajacharya were part of the deal, some other important leaders were conspicuously absent. In another image, Bhatta has taken a selfie with UML chairman Oli. Both are seen in a jolly mood.

In a video that went viral some months ago, Bhatta talks about securing a deal on the purchase of weapons for the Nepal Police. He confidently says that he can ‘handle’ the two important parliamentary committees – the Public Accounts Committee and the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee – so that they will not pose an obstacle to the process of arms sale. What is more shocking is that he assertively says that he can easily take the ruling and opposition parties – Nepali Congress, UML and Maoist Centre – into confidence to this end. He has even gone to claim to convince China and India in this connection. He clearly established himself as a power broker who can make major parties dance to his tune. In the communist parlance, Bhatta fits to be called an epitome of bichauliyas who form the basis for the comprador class that the Nepali communists vow to dismantle.

Various reports have disclosed that Bhatta has been successful in having a nefarious nexus with former prime ministers Sher Bahadur Deuba, Oli, and Prachanda, all of whom are currently under investigation by the Department of Money Laundering Investigation for suspected illegal wealth accumulation. Following the arrest of UML vice chair Paudel, the government’s anti-corruption drive has entered a decisive phase. The CIB has taken Paudel into custody, accusing him of abetting Bhatta to gain undue business benefits.  

Paudel, who had announced himself as a landless squatter in 2051 B.S., has now reportedly become a billionaire by abusing power. He has assumed the post of deputy prime minister for three times and finance minister five times. Always close to the party leadership, he has hobnobbed with many businesspeople and supported them through policy adjustment. Now he was arrested based on the statements of various persons facing action over financial crimes. It has been disclosed that Bhatta had received Poudel’s shares of Shreeram Tobacco Company worth Rs. 300 million free of cost. These shares were bought at Rs 375 million, according to reports.  Similarly, the department has found a cow farm spread over 35 bighas of land in Butwal. Registered in the name of an ordinary individual, the price of the land is expected to be over Rs 4 billion. It is suspected that Poudel has invested in the husbandry. There are many cases of policy-level corruption and financial fraud in which Poudel has direct and indirect involvement, various media reports claim.  

Blow

Paudel has been rounded up in a money laundering case at a time when he was busy in a party programme organised to collect the opinions of provincial and district leaders on the leadership transfer. It also sounds mysterious why the photo that contains the top communist leaders along with Bhatta was made public after nine years. His arrest has dealt a serious blow to the UML leadership and other political groups. As the government is getting tough with those who siphoned off the state’s coffers in the past, a sense of dread has gripped leaders of different parties that have governed the country for the last three decades.  

Deflated by the March 5 elections, the UML and Nepali Communist Party (NCP) that came into existence following the unity between the Maoist Centre and CPN-Unified Socialist are now busy assessing their defeat and making a strategy to stage a comeback in power politics. The other day, Prachanda instructed the party cadres to be prepared to work with the UML. He suggested that the NCP and UML would go for unification again to revamp the left movement. However, this time, such unification is unlikely to produce a positive impact. The Gen Z movement and general elections have already pushed them into a corner. The rank and file are fed up with the speeches of tainted leaders. In 2018, the UML and Maoist Centre got unified to meet the prime ministerial ambition of Oli and Prachanda. Now both the leaders are pitching for alliance or unity to hedge themselves from the state’s action against their alleged involvement in corruption cases and abuse of authority.

(The author is the Managing Editor of this daily.)