By Prabasi Nepali Last week, the people of Nepal were flabbergasted on hearing the news that the leading progressive forces of the country were going to unite to finally confront the backward, bourgeoisie parties. Like a phoenix rising out of the ashes of the past, the forward-looking Communist Parties – the Communist Party of Nepal –Maoist Centre (Maoists/CPN-MC), the Communist Party of Nepal – United Marxists-Leninists (CPN-UML/Emale) and the Naya Shakti Party-Nepal (NSPN) were to create a new Communist Alliance in the first instance to contest the forthcoming provincial/state and national parliamentary elections. In the second phase, after the inevitable triumph of the enterprising progressive Communist forces – the people of Nepal will have no choice, but to back such dynamic, avant-garde powers vis-à-vis reactionary parties – will then coalesce to give birth to a new Communist Movement, such as the world has not yet experienced! The nascent Communist alliance – let us call them the “ Ultra-Progressive Neo-Communists” -- will be led by such stalwarts as Comrade-in-Chief Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who was awarded the epithet of “Prachanda”, the ‘Fierce One’ by his myriad of followers inland and his countless admirers internationally, for his daring exploits against the then Royal Nepalese Army (RNA), whose inept generals shook in fear on hearing his name. Comrade Prachanda planned brilliant victorious campaigns in the hills and mountains of the erstwhile Himalayan Kingdom instilling terror and panic in the ill-trained regular soldiers or spies and hapless officers of the RNA. He not only transformed the tactics and strategy of China’s Mao Zedong in the field, but gave birth to new ideas and thoughts, bringing forth a whole new philosophy of Communism. More than any other Communist leader, Prachanda combined theory and practice in a superb manner. One can thus speak of “Prachanda’s Thoughts” as the logical conclusion of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Vladimir Lenin, Stalin and Mao Zedong. Not to be outdone was the other prominent Maoist leader, who was brilliant in his own way, but was condemned to labour in the shadow of the great Prachanda. This was none other than Dr. Baburam Bhattarai, the non plus ultra of Marxism-Leninism-Stalinism-Maoism theory, and the product of the elite Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. He was the Communist ideologue par excellence. To bring the theory and practice of Communism to even greater heights, he tactically formed his new pioneering “Naya Shakti” or “New Force” party, which on the surface was a reformist Democratic Socialist Party, but was intended to attract and transform the regressive, bourgeois middle class urban elites. Having succeeded to a great extent, the brainy doctor of political philosophy reverted to his true self, and will now be one of the ‘Great Helmsmen’ in the Nepalese ‘Ultra-Progressive Neo-Communist Movement’. Unfortunately, many retrograde Nepalese (usually neo-monarchists) have started a whispering campaign that both Comrades Prachanda and Bhattarai have been trained by India’s external spy agency and are beholden to India because of the long years of covert and overt support to the Maoist insurgency against the Nepalese state. These, soon to be dispossessed moneyed classes maintain evilly that these two distinguished Communist leaders – on the threshold of achieving great things for our country – are actually fifth-columnists in the pay of our southern neighbour. This last itself calumny, since this neighbour has only our well-being at heart and wants to protect us from the depredation coming from the north! The third cog in the wheel, or rather the star in the triumvirate of the ‘Ultra-Progressive Neo-Communist Movement’ is none other than former prime minister and current chairperson of the ‘Emale’, His Astute Commander, Comrade K.P. Sharma Oli. No one has taken real credit for the birth of the ‘Grand Communist Alliance’, but it seems that the seeds were sown a long time back by the grand commander of Communist ‘wheeling-dealing’, Bam Dev Gautam, the master of alliances, and consummate Machiavelli of Nepalese politics. He could convince his Chairman Oli of the need to create a Communist block and was aided in this venture by two former PMs, Madhav Kumar Nepal (‘Makune’) and Jhalanath Khanal (‘Jhallu’) Comrade Oli was, of course, very much game in precipitating this momentous development. After all, his tenure as PM had been rudely interrupted by mischievous forces hell bent on preventing him from realizing his grand design for the Nepalese nation and its suffering people. Under him, Nepal had already reached the ‘take-off stage’ to become an Asian Switzerland! However, first the tottering and aimless rump government (sooner, more than later the Maoist comrades were bound to leave the incumbent government, making it implode) would have to be terminated, ending the agony of the Nepalese people. There is absolutely no doubt that the “new left alliance” will come to power in the coming parliamentary elections -- since all the Communist factions separately garnered around 60 percent of the votes in the last national elections. Thus, Oli far-sighted as he is, already (definitely not prematurely!) enunciated the domestic policy of his ‘new left unity’ government (is there any doubt as to who the ‘Supreme Leader’ is going to be?): ‘to ensure the rule of law, curb corruption and enhance national independence (music in the ears of the Indian establishment!), stability and economic prosperity.’ In the international arena Comrade Oli’s aims are lofty indeed: “The new government will adopt balanced and respectable foreign policies guided by the principle of Panchasheel, Non-aligned Movement (non-aligned that is between China and India) and the UN Charter.” With such visionary concepts, don’t be surprised if the inspired triumvirate is invited as distinguished delegates to the forthcoming pivotal party congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC). The incumbent PM Sher Bahadur Deuba (‘the Lion-Hearted’, whatever that may mean) was caught completely unawares by the new, historic development. He faces a classic, but also historic dilemma: ‘What is to be done’ [!] He is desperately trying to put together a counter-coalition (the so-called ‘broader democratic alliance’, but his own party is in shambles. His peers in the party are old fogeys with no inkling whatsoever how to proceed to weather the gathering storm. His proposed coalition partners are like jackals trying to snatch away the choicest morsels. To add to his woes, two Madhes-based parties, the Sanghiya Samajbadi Forum-Nepal (SSF-N) and the Rashtriya Janata Party-Nepal (RJP-N) which did well in the local elections have also decided to form an electoral alliance. This leaves Deuba not only in a tight spot, he is virtually between the devil and the deep blue sea.