Constitution still in sight, says Bhattarai

 NGAWANG TENJI SHERPA, KATHMANDU, DEC 21- Contrary to the official line of the party, UCPN (Maoist) Vice-Chairman Baburam Bhattarai has said there are still possibilities of promulgation of a new

constitution by the Constituent Assembly (CA) and completion of the peace process.

Four days ago, the Maoist Central Com-mittee had passed the political line of party Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, which underscored the need for preparations for a people’s revolt as chances of peace and constitution writing process had been near-exhausted.

 Bhattarai’s line of ‘peace and constitution’ had fallen into a minority position after the hard-line faction led by Vice-Chairman Mohan Baidya backed Dahal’s line of ‘people’s revolt’ and ‘national retaliation war’ against India. In his first full-length interview after the all-important CC, Bhattarai told the Post on Monday his major differences with Dahal were on peace and constitution process and how they viewed India.

In the interview, Bhattarai still took pains to stress that the party had not “completely abandoned the path of peace and constitution yet”. He, however, came out clearly on his differences with Dahal.

“The party has a clear view that chances of promulgation of a new constitution and completion of the peace process has been virtually exhausted and the party should now give priority to an alternative. I cannot go against the party decision,” Bhattarai said. He added that problems with India should be solved through politics and diplomacy first. Though the intra-party rift has widened, Bhattrai expressed hope that party would not split.

CIAA raids Dabur factory  

 BARA, DEC 20 -
The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) on Monday raided multinational company Dabur Nepal’s factory at Rampur in Bara district. The CIAA resorted to the move after receiving complaints that the company had been imprinting false manufacturing date in its products.

The CIAA team raided the factory after a case was filed with the CIAA on Friday by Forum for Protection of Consumers’ Right against Dabur Nepal for allegedly distributing products with false manufacturing date. “We raided Dabur’s factory following complaints filed by the Forum for Protection of Consumers’ Right,” said CIAA Spokesman Ishwori Paudyal.