By Our Reporter

KP Sharma Oli has always prospered by marginalizing competitors. Madhav Kumar Nepal was compelled to leave to create a new party, Jhalanath Khanal marginalized, Bam Dev Gautam and Bhim Rawal made to retreat. His leadership of CPN-UML has been based on muzzling those who would dare to question him. In thwarting former President Bidya Devi Bhandari's re-entry into active politics, however, Oli might have chosen a battle that reveals the limitations of his authoritarian style.

Bhandari is not a common disgruntled leader. She has the legacy of her late husband, Madan Bhandari, UML's most iconic leader. She also has the honor of being Nepal's first female President. These provide her a moral influence that Oli cannot easily disregard. By keeping her out of the party membership, Oli did not wish to have a rival power center. Instead, he has made her exclusion a prime motive.

After Oli and his supporters stopped her reentry, she embarked on a nationwide tour that started on August 18 from Koshi Province and is now scheduled to cover Madhesh, has already shaken the party. Koshi and Bagmati provincial committees publicly demanded her reinstatement, warning that sidelining her would negatively impact the UML's election chances. Leaders who had so far kept mum are now questioning why Oli's diktat should decide who is in and who is out of the party. For the first time in years, Oli is faced with not just dissidence but a challenge. In trying to bar her from a role in the party, Oli may have provided her a larger image among the rank-and-file.