Maoist chief Prachanda dramatically reinstated the party’s key ideologue, Dr Baburam Bhattarai, and two others in the party’s apex decision-making body today, signalling that the six-month long rift and the threat of a split among the guerrillas is over.A statement issued by Prachanda today said that while Dr Bhattarai had been reinstated as a member of the party’s standing committee, two of his supporters — Ashok and Rahul — have also been reinducted in the politburo.The bitter feud among Prachanda and Bhattarai became public a month ago when the former accused Bhattarai of being ‘‘India’s man’’, which Bhattarai countered with the accusation that ‘‘only the King’s people can say that’’.But as Bhattarai is the only public face of the party, he was officially assigned to rush to Delhi and establish contact with leaders of Nepal’s seven pro-democracy political parties during their scheduled visit there.Dr Bhattarai, following India’s behind-the-scene mediation, reached an understanding with the parties that they would be launching a joint struggle to find a democratic way out of the current stalemate in Nepal.Prachanda said the party was going to consolidate its position on the basis of renewed unity, struggle and self-criticism for mistakes and at the same time undertake to unite all the political forces against the absolute monarchy.He, however, made it clear that no one in the party would have the freedom to air internal issues in public, indicating that Dr Bhattarai would not have the liberty to write in the media without being assigned by the party.In fact, today’s statement is consistent with the one issued last week as it reiterates that the Maoists are willing to hold a dialogue with the political parties to find a democratic way out to the decade-long conflict in Nepal ‘‘in deference to the people’s wishes for peace and progress’’.
