KATHMANDU: Former Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai on Sunday announced the New Force Nepal Interim Central Council, which he said would develop into a political party.

Organising a press conference in Kathmandu today, the former Maoist leader said the Council has 265 members.

Bhattarai also revealed names of 35 members today.

Some prominent members of the panel include film artists Ashok Sharma, Karishma Manandhar and Saroj Khanal; former bureaucrats Rameshwor Khanal and Praveen Mishra; analysts Mumaram Khanal and Dambar Khatiwada; Janajati leaders Chaitanya Subba, Keshav Man Shakya and Pasang Sherpa; and Dalit leaders Durga Sob and Dal Mardan Kami.

Former Maoist leaders who had left the UCPN-Maoist party following Bhattarai including Devendra Paudel and Ram Chandra Jha are also in the Council.

Meanwhile, the New Force Campaign established the central office in Babarmahal of Kathmandu today.

Bhattarai, the then second man of the UCPN-Maoist, had severed ties with the party on September 26 last year claiming the old party could not make any change in the nation.