KATHMANDU: Former President Bidhya Devi Bhandari on Friday publicly re-entered partisan politics with a fiery address that signaled the beginning of an open ideological and organizational battle within the CPN-UML.
Speaking at a press conference held at Karki Banquet in Babarmahal, she denounced the party’s decision to invalidate her membership and presented herself not just as a former head of state but as the former Vice-Chair of the UML, ready to lead what appears to be a looming internal rebellion.
Bhandari arrived about half an hour late for the 3 p.m. event, by which time a large crowd of journalists, party cadres, and supporters had already overflowed the venue’s smaller hall, prompting organizers to shift the gathering to a larger space.
The atmosphere was charged, with chants of “Long Live Bidhya Bhandari” and “Long Live UML” erupting as she stepped out of her BYD electric car.
But beneath the surface cheer, the occasion marked something more significant: the first public confrontation between the party’s once-aligned powerhouses, KP Sharma Oli and Bidhya Devi Bhandari. Once close allies, the two now stand on opposite ends of a deepening divide within the UML.
The symbolism was unmistakable. Bhandari deliberately chose the same venue where, in 2021, leaders Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Madhav Kumar Nepal had announced KP Oli’s expulsion from the then-unified Nepal Communist Party.
By returning to that very stage, Bhandari sent a clear message: she intends to revive a new front of dissent within the UML, this time led by her.
While Dahal and Nepal’s 2021 rebellion led to a party split, Bhandari’s challenge may unfold differently. Unlike the past, she is taking on Oli from within the UML structure, and from a position of long-standing loyalty and legacy.
Oli’s grip and Bhandari’s exclusion
The current conflict was set off after the UML Central Committee, on July 21, labeled Bhandari’s renewed party membership as “inactive” despite her claim that she had properly renewed it on June 28, coinciding with the 74th birth anniversary of her late husband and party icon Madan Bhandari.
This move follows Oli’s growing consolidation of power within the party. In recent years, he has expelled dissenters like Dr. Bhim Rawal, scrapped age and term limits in the party charter, and ensured that rivals like Bhandari would be sidelined from the upcoming statute convention scheduled for September. That convention is expected to endorse sweeping changes to further entrench Oli’s leadership.
In this context, Bhandari’s exclusion from both the upcoming statute convention and the next General Convention, UML’s 11th, appears not only deliberate but deeply political. Her response: a nationwide campaign to galvanize internal opposition.
Rallying the marginalized
Friday’s press meet, though billed as a routine media interaction, turned into a show of strength. Among the hundreds in attendance were sidelined UML leaders and activists, many of whom blame Oli for the party’s growing autocracy.
Former central member Binod Dhakal, once close to Oli, welcomed Bhandari upon her arrival and stood by her side throughout the event. Others included Youth Association leaders, former ANFSU office-bearers, and local-level party figures from across the country.
The presence of current central committee members like Yubaraj Baskota and Sarita Niroula, despite UML headquarters reportedly issuing strict instructions not to attend, further underlined the quiet rumblings within the party’s ranks.
Observers say Bhandari is positioning herself as the focal point for this dissent, a former president who still commands emotional resonance among cadres, and who now frames herself as the victim of an unjust purge.
Taking a stand
In her written statement, signed as “Former Vice-Chair, CPN-UML,” Bhandari rejected the party’s decision, calling it “immature” and “emotionally charged.” She reiterated that her membership had been renewed properly and criticized the party’s claim to the contrary as factually and politically misleading.
“I’ve reached the highest constitutional office through this very party. Today, I speak not for any position or power, but for dignity and the values that built this organization,” she said. “What kind of party refuses membership to someone who has devoted 45 years of their life to it?”
She added that she had already informed party chair Oli about her membership renewal during their last meeting, only to be blindsided by the Central Committee’s decision shortly after.
“I can no longer remain silent,” she said, “not when the values of internal democracy, political freedom, and ideological loyalty are being trampled.”
A long road ahead
Bhandari’s declaration comes with a clear call to action. Invoking the legacy of Madan Bhandari and the ideological framework of “People’s Multiparty Democracy,” she urged party cadres to resist autocracy and defend the party’s ideological soul. “This is not a time for convenience. It is a time for principled defiance,” she said.
With her statement, the battle lines within the UML have now been drawn. Whether this escalates into a full-fledged revolt or fizzles into quiet resistance depends on how many disillusioned leaders and cadres rally behind her.
But one thing is clear: the former President has shed her post-presidency silence, and she is now speaking as a politician again.
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