By Sudeshna Sarkar, IANS,
Kathmandu : A controversial former chief of Nepal’s army, who was instrumental in the collapse of the republic’s first Maoist government two years ago, is now poised to embrace politics and launch his own party.
Gen Rookmangud Katawal, who steadfastly resisted the Maoists’ attempt to induct their guerrilla fighters into the national army, and was sacked by then Maoist prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda in May 2009, will announce the formation of a new party, Samyukta Rastriya Manch, the Kantipur daily and its sister publication said.
The party comprises royalists, former Maoists as well as former members from the security forces, the reports said.
Scheduled to be launched May 13, 15 days before the critical deadline for unveiling a new constitution, the party’s avowed aims are to safeguard national sovereignty, peace and development, the reports said.
An adopted child of late king Mahendra, Katawal has been a staunch supporter of the crown in his personal life, continuing to pay his respects to deposed king Gyanendra during the public programmes observed by the former royals, like the former king’s birthday.
Sacking him proved costly for the Maoists with the move opposed by its allies in the coalition government.
Immediately after Katawal was shown the door by the government, President Ram Baran Yadav reinstated him.
Subsequently, the parties supporting the Maoist government withdrew support, forcing Prachanda to resign.
Though the Maoists criticised the president’s move as unconstitutional and kept up a protracted public protest trying to pressure him into recanting it, the campaign failed.
After his tenure as army chief ended, Katawal also tried his hand at the arts, penning songs and bringing out an album that managed to rope in some of Nepal’s best known popular singers.
The new party, it was reported, would be first announced in Dhangadhi, one of the remotest and most under-developed districts of Nepal located in the farwest and one that ironically, saw excesses by security forces during the 10-year Maoist insurgency.
(Sudeshna Sarkar can be contacted at [email protected])