RSP Bara Meeting Dispute, Rahbar Ansari Rejects Claims

Rastriya Swatantra Party’s internal dispute in Bara has now spilled fully into public confrontation after a district-level extended meeting in Kalaiya turned tense on Saturday. Videos showing shouting, pushing and police intervention quickly spread across social media through the day, with claims that party lawmakers had been chased out of the venue.

But RSP lawmakers who attended the meeting have rejected those claims, saying the incident has been exaggerated for political messaging inside the party itself.

Bara-2 lawmaker Chandan Singh said the meeting was completed as planned despite attempts to disrupt it. He accused supporters close to expelled former district chair Chandan Swarnakar of deliberately trying to obstruct the programme.

“We had information since morning that disruption was being planned. The programme was conducted accordingly,” Singh said.

He also said five cadres involved in the disruption had been recommended for disciplinary action.

The extended meeting was held at Karanraj Party Palace in Kalaiya with the participation of RSP lawmakers Rahbar Ansari, Arbind Sah, Ganesh Dhimal and Chandan Singh. The dispute exposed deepening tensions between the current district leadership and a section aligned with the party’s former district leadership.

Some cadres present at the venue accused the current leadership of making unilateral organisational decisions and sidelining founding members of the district unit.

Witnesses said shouting and pushing broke out inside the meeting hall for some time before police stepped in as tensions escalated. Those scenes later circulated online with claims that lawmakers had been forced to flee the venue.

Representative House member Rahbar Ansari denied that interpretation.

“We had gone there to collect suggestions for the district convention as directed by the central committee circular. Some leaders already facing party action tried to create disruption,” Ansari said. “Videos of people walking were circulated as if lawmakers had been chased away.”

He also said police had escorted guests from Kathmandu to a nearby room purely for security reasons and that the visuals were later presented misleadingly online.

Conflict inside Bara unit deepens

The conflict inside RSP’s Bara organisation has intensified steadily over the past few days, particularly after the party revoked the membership of founding district chair Chandan Swarnakar.

The party’s central committee had decided to cancel Swarnakar’s membership during a meeting held on May 13 following recommendations from the central disciplinary commission.

Local leaders say dissatisfaction had been growing for months over organisational expansion, leadership selection and the role of the party’s founding district team.

Saturday’s confrontation showed that those internal disagreements have now evolved into an open power struggle inside the district organisation.

Interim district committee formed

According to lawmaker Chandan Singh, the meeting also decided to form an interim district committee with five representatives each from Bara’s four electoral constituencies.

He said preparations would now move ahead for ward-level and municipal-level conventions.