Both the Baidya and Bhattarai factions say they were forced to demand the reshuffle after the Dahal faction barred them from presenting their political lines on various occasions before the Palungtar plenum. "Dahal's monopoly of the PLA rank and file should end," said a leader close to Bhattarai.

Dahal's dominance in PLA was the most controversial issue during the sixth extended plenum of the party in Gorkha as it pitted the PLA combatants against Bhattarai and Baidya. The Dahal faction had tried to rationalize its dominance over the combatants arguing that the chain of command would be jeopardised if they were split into three factions.

So far the Dahal faction enjoys the loyalty of the top PLA brass. PLA Chief Nanda Kishor Pun, the Party's Army In-charge Barsaman Pun and Deputy Commanders Janardhan Sharma and Chandra Prakash Khanal all are from Dahal's camp. The Bhattarai and Baidya factions say the PLA leadership would be balanced if the top four posts were equally divided among the three factions.

"Dahal is still the supreme commander of the PLA and the PLA combatants openly backed Dahal's political line during the Palungtar plenum," said a leader close to Bhattarai. "This is not fair."

The disgruntled vice chairmen reason that the Palungtar plenum has officially recognized three political lines in the party and that clearly calls for an organizational reshuffling. "We should be given ample space in the PLA leadership so that we can clarify our political and ideological line to the combatants, who want to listen equally to all the factions. There should not be the domination of one political line," said a leader close to Baidya.

The two factions have also demanded their balanced presence in the state committees, where Dahals holds sway. "We have demanded at least one central committee member at the state committee level to balance the three factions," said a leader close to Bhattarai.

Meanwhile, the Dahal faction reasons that it is not necessary to reshuffle the structure of the PLA as the integration and rehabilitation process will begin soon.
ekantipur.com