30 June, Janakpurdham. Upendra Yadav has been elected unopposed as the President of Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP) Nepal. Elections for the post of co-chairman are going on on Wednesday, the third day of the convention which has been going on since Monday in Janakpurdham.
Yadav, who was in the leadership after 16 years, became the chairman unopposed. Central spokesperson Manish Suman informed that he was elected unopposed as he was the only candidate for the post of president.
Yadav’s critics say that there is no point in electing the unopposed president after expelling his competitors from the party. ‘Who will win if Upendra Yadav doesn’t win the game after choosing the players and appointing the referee himself?’ A leader says.
After the convention process started, Md. Istiaq Rai had already announced that he would contest the election as the president, while Ashok Rai was also an aspirant. But the leaders, who were dissatisfied with the selection of representatives, registered a new party on 23 Baisakh under the leadership of Rai.
According to the leaders of JSP Nepal, the former Chief Minister of Madhesh Lal Babu Raut was also an aspirant for the chairmanship. But he changed his mind after the party broke up before the convention. The leaders say that Upendra Yadav was relieved after Raut decided to run for the post of co-president.
Jaspa leader Ram Ashish Yadav says that everyone has shown sympathy for Upendra Yadav to make the party stronger and stronger. “Upendra Yadavji had opened the door for everyone to run for the post of president, but because of everyone’s sympathy for him, he did not run,” he said.
There are three nominations for co-chairman. Leaders Rakam Chemjong and Rajkishore Yadav have filed their candidature along with Raut, the former Chief Minister of Madhesh Province. 23 candidates, 17 men and 6 women, have been nominated for the post of 5 vice presidents.
Six candidates have been nominated for the two general secretaries namely Bom Bahadur Darlami Magar (Tribal), Ram Kumar Sharma, Vijay Kumar, Deepak Karki, Manish Suman and Ashok Kumar Yadav. There are 9 nominations for joint secretary general and three for women, 34 for secretary and three for treasurer. There is a possibility of voting for all the positions except the chairman as there are significant nominations for the central members as well.
Enthusiastic leader activist
According to spokesperson Suman, Jaspa Nepal has 145,000 active members across the country, from which 1,349 convention delegates were selected, including around 100 observers.
The leaders have been excited by the participation seen in the inauguration ceremony as well as the Vandasatra and the elections. More than 1,000 signatures have been seen in the Minutes of the presence of convention representatives.
Upendra Yadav’s self-strength has increased with the participation of leaders and activists participating in the conference. Jaspa Nepal’s spokesperson Suman also says that it is clear that the division has not affected the party due to the enthusiastic participation in the convention held last summer.
“This summer, more than 20,000 people participated in the inaugural session, which is more than we expected,” he told Online News. It is clear that the division has not affected the party.’
Credit: Not easy to maintain
As easily as Upendra Yadav was elected as the party president from the convention, it is not easy to protect the reputation of the party.
With the Madhesh people’s revolt of 2062/063, Yadav formed the Madhesi People’s Rights Forum under his leadership. In the first Constituent Assembly election in 2064, Madhesh emerged as a power with 52 seats. Yadav has been the president for 16 years, but the party has split several times. Attendance in Parliament is also continuously decreasing.
It was reduced to 16 seats in the second Constituent Assembly of 2070. In 2074 Madhesi Morcha was formed and fought the elections and saved it.
But when it came to the general election of November 2079, the Yadav-led party Jaspa Nepal won a total of 12 seats. Yadav also failed to be elected as a member of the House of Representatives. In alliance with UML, Saptari region no. He contested the election in 2nd and suffered a shameful defeat. Chairman of public opinion Dr. Sike Raut defeated Yadav by more than 18,000 votes.
Jaspa Nepal won 12 seats in Parliament. After those 12 MPs became important in the consolidation of power, Yadav took the post of Vice President to open the way to enter Parliament. After making his confidant Ramsahay Prasad Yadav the Vice President, he went to contest the election in Bara 2.
Upendra Yadav, who entered the Parliament after winning the by-election held on 10 Baisakh 2080 with the strength of the power alliance, became the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Health in Prachanda’s government.
As the Ashok Rai group split the party, Upendra Yadav lost the government of Madhesh state along with the centre. After the implementation of federalism, JSP Nepal led the government in Madhesh for 6 years. Now JSP has overthrown the government of Nepal and formed a new government under the leadership of Janmat Party, in which the main ruling party is CPN-UML.
‘JSP Nepal’s main base is Madhesh province, where public opinion is rising under the leadership of CK Raut, while UML has also gained strength’, a former leader of JSP Nepal says, ‘He was elected as the president after being banned by his competitors, but it is not easy to save the party.’
