KATHMANDU: Nepali Congress party's Okhaldhunga district leader Mahesh Karmocha has defected to Dr Baburam Bhattarai-led Naya Shakti Nepal.

Karmocha had rebelled against the official candidate of Nepali Congress, Bal Krishna Dahal, in Okhaldhunga Constituency No. 1 in the 2013 Constituent Assembly II, and against Homanath Dahal in the 1999 general elections.

Bhattarai has posted a group photograph with Karmocha and others on Facebook today, welcoming and extending wishes to "all champions from Nepali Congress who joined Naya Shakti Nepal in the leadership of established leader of Okhaldhunga Mahesh Karmocha."

Former Prime Minister Bhattarai, who severed ties with the Maoist party, is preparing to officially announce the Naya Shakti Nepal as a political party.