KATHMANDU: Rekhi Gurung, the secretary to former Prime Minister and Nepal Samajwadi Party (Naya Shakti) Chairman Dr. Baburam Bhattarai, has hit back strongly at Maoist Center Chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ after he launched a scathing verbal assault on Dr. Bhattarai during a press conference in Rukum East earlier today.

In his statement, Prachanda branded Dr. Bhattarai a “national laughingstock” and dismissed any future political collaboration with him. “People call him the most unintelligent doctor. Even the reactionary forces he’s sided with don’t trust him anymore,” said Prachanda.

Reacting to these remarks, Rekhi Gurung posted a sharp rebuttal on social media, calling Prachanda’s comment and persona “two great political jokes.” “‘To say Baburam lacks intelligence and to regard Prachanda as a true communist’ are, in themselves, two grand political jokes,” Gurung wrote.

Gurung reminded readers that if Dr. Bhattarai had not vacated his Gorkha constituency, Prachanda might never have made it to Parliament. “In that sense, I’ve met and heard from many Gorkhali people who consider Baburam to be naïve—but certainly not unintelligent,” he added.

He also pointed out the irony in Prachanda ridiculing Bhattarai while enjoying the legacy of Bhattarai’s contributionsspecifically, the Mid-Hill Highway, a national pride project conceptualized by Bhattarai.

“Mocking Baburam while taking a morning walk along the Mid-Hill Highway is nothing less than laughing at one’s own history,” Gurung wrote. Drawing a deeper contrast between the two leaders, Gurung asserted:

“If Prachanda is a political player, Baburam is a carrier of ideological transformation. A person lives for a time, but ideas are eternal. That is the difference between the individual and the ideology.”

He concluded his statement with a scathing remark on the current state of Nepal’s politics: “Nepali politics has become a comedy show. Thank you, comrade, for today’s dose of humor.”

This exchange underscores the widening rift between two key figures of Nepal’s Maoist movement, once allies during the decade-long insurgency and early phases of republican transition, but now sharply divided both ideologically and personally.

Also Read:

Prachanda calls Baburam Bhattarai a national joke