Red is not Maoists’ colour

Red, no longer, seems to be the most favoured colour for the Maoists in Nepal. Within two weeks of leading the new government in the Himalayan nation, the radical communist party is fast changing its colour.

Now, navy-blue seems to be the new colour of choice for the leaders of the ultra-left communist party, which always dreamt to paint red the snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas.

The Maoist Central Committee decided to introduce uniforms for the members of the 601-member Constituent Assembly (CA).

The ultra-left party — flush from its victory in the CA polls in April has devised a navy blue dress code for its members in its first brush with parliamentary democracy. All the Maoist members have been directed by the party to attend the next session of the Constituent Assembly on September 6 in the new navy-blue uniform. However, the party did not cite any extraordinary reason to opt for the new colour as party uniform.

“The party decided to introduce the dress code for all the members to set a new example in the Constituent Assembly,” Ekraj Bhandari, a member of the Maoist Central Committee, said.

Bhandari, who is also a member of the CA, said that the new dress code would compulsory for all members, including PM Prachanda.

“Our party decided to introduce dress code for the members in the CA was taken as we did not want the house to be transformed into a fashion-show,” Bhandari said. All the 228 Maoists members in the CA would always wear navy-blue blazers.

Bhandari said the Madheshi members of the party would be allowed to wear sleeve-less navy-blue “bandhgala” if they wear their traditional kurta-payjama in the CA.