Himal Press 
Former President Bidya Devi Bhandari
KATHMANDU: Former President Bidya Bhandari, who is also a former Vice Chairperson of the ruling CPN-UML, has objected to the controversy surrounding the renewal of her party membership, warning that denying or questioning membership can weaken both the party and democratic culture.
In a letter addressed to delegates of the UML’s statute convention, which begins in Lalitpur on Thursday, Bhandari said her membership, first obtained in 1980, represents her faith and commitment to the party. She expressed dissatisfaction over attempts made to undermine it.
Bhandari claimed that she had renewed her membership in the presence of party Chairperson KP Sharma Oli on June 28, during late leader Madan Bhandari’s birth anniversary. She recalled that she, at that time, publicly pledged to dedicate the rest of her life to serving the country and people through the party.
“My membership is not just a personal matter, it is tied to the party’s rules, values and democratic practices,” Bhandari wrote. She argued that efforts to render her membership inactive contradict the democratic culture nurtured by the party’s ideology of people’s multiparty democracy.
Calling for a stronger, more unified and ideologically refined UML, she urged delegates to take a positive position on maintaining her membership.
“The party must be strong if the country is to be strong,” Bhandari emphasized. “We are in the stage of building the foundations of socialism and only through implementing the socio-economic policies embraced by the people’s multiparty democracy can we achieve the goal of ‘Prosperous Nepal, Happy Nepali.’”
