Will champion the cause of marginalised groups without joining the govt
KATHMANDU, AUGUST 18
The Mahantha Thakur-Rajendra Mahato faction of the Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal today applied for registering a new party, Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal (Democratic), at the Election Commission.
The Thakur-Mahato faction of the JSP-N split the party after the government amended the Political Party Act lowering the threshold for splitting a party.
Thakur has been named the chair and Mahato the senior leader of the new party. According to Mahato, out of 34 JSP-N lawmakers in the House of Representatives, 13 have joined the party. One National Assembly member has also joined the new party. Out of 51 JSP-N executive committee members, 17 members, including lawmaker Resham Chaudhary, who has been convicted for Kailalil carnage, have joined the new party. Out of 34 JSP-N members in the HoR, two, including Chaudhary remain suspended. Mahato said they decided to register a new party to champion the cause of marginalised groups in all three regions - Madhes, hills and mountains - and to establish multi-nation state where people of all regions and ethnic groups would enjoy equal rights without any discrimination.
He said his party would champion the cause of marginalised groups and communities without joining the government.
Mahato said more leaders who were associated with the Upendra Yadav-Baburam Bhattarai faction of the JSP-N would join the new party. According to Mahato, his party's executive committee has 24 members. It could be expanded later to make it fully inclusive, he added.
The factional feud in the JSP-N intensified after leaders of the Thakur-Mahato faction supported KP Sharma Oli's bid for prime ministership under Article 76 (5) of the constitution, whereas the Yadav-Bhattarai faction supported Deuba's bid.
A version of this article appears in the print on August 19 2021, of The Himalayan Times.
