Two Nepali Parties Struggle with Merger Six Months After Unification

Kathmandu. More than six months have passed since the unification of the Loktantrik Samajwadi Party (Lospa) led by Mahanta Thakur and the Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP) Nepal led by Upendra Yadav, but the party adjustment has not yet been completed. Both parties have been doing homework for adjustment, but it has not been successful. Both parties have called separate meetings to discuss how to move forward with unification and adjustment. The two parties merged in Poush 2082 to form JSP Nepal. Upendra Yadav is the chairman of the party and Mahanta Thakur is the patron. No other office bearers have been finalized yet. Although a 52-member central coordination committee has been formed for party registration, its regular meetings are not being held. A leader of JSP Nepal said, 'There is no feeling of unity between these two parties. JSP leaders are found in the JSP Nepal office, while Lospa leaders are wherever Mahanta Thakur is.' A workspace has been created for patron Mahanta Thakur at the JSP Nepal office in Balkumari, but he has not set foot in his workspace even for a day. Dust has accumulated in his workspace. Patron Thakur is usually found at his residence or at the party's parliamentary office in Singha Durbar. For formal meetings, he uses the parliamentary party office in Singha Durbar, and leaders close to Lospa are also mostly found there. The former Lospa Nepal office was located in the building of the Madhesi Civil Servants Forum in Babarmahal. The government has now locked it. The belongings of Lospa Nepal are still in that building. The offices of the trade unions were vacated by the government on land provided to them, along with the decision to abolish the trade unions. Due to Mahanta Thakur staying at the Singha Durbar parliamentary party office or his own residence, he has not had enough dialogue with JSP Nepal Chairman Upendra Yadav. For conversation, either Upendra Yadav has to call, or he has to go to Mahanta Thakur's residence, which is not always possible at any time. This has created a state of communication breakdown between the two leaders, said a leader of JSP Nepal. Due to this communication breakdown, the party adjustment work has not been able to move forward. The adjustment process has been affected due to the lack of regular meetings and discussions between patron Thakur and chairman Yadav. Meanwhile, complaints are also heard in the circles of the JSP Nepal party office that most of the leaders of Lospa Nepal are engaged in forming a new organization. It is said that many people are starting to distance themselves from the party from now on, as they will not get a proper place after being adjusted in JSP Nepal. Shailendra Sah, a leader of JSP Nepal, said that there is no dispute regarding the adjustment of the two parties and that the necessary homework is being done within the party for this. He mentioned that internal discussions in the former parties are natural for adjustment, and this should not be taken otherwise, and that the leaders are actively working to finalize the adjustment. JSP Nepal has called a meeting of the executive committee that existed before the unification to discuss the issue of party unification and adjustment. JSP Nepal has called a meeting of the old executive committee to discuss how and in what model to move forward with party unification and adjustment. Lospa Nepal is also preparing to call a meeting of its old executive committee. It is said that Lospa will also call a meeting and discuss based on the decision made by the JSP Nepal meeting. Binod Singh, former general secretary of Lospa Nepal and a leader of JSP Nepal, said that the adjustment between the two parties is being done at a rapid pace and will be finalized in a few days. He mentioned that meetings of both old parties are being held for adjustment, which is also necessary, and clarified that the old party meeting has been called because it is good to move forward with the adjustment work after consulting with everyone. Former Lospa Nepal had a 65-member executive committee and a 307-member central committee, and JSP Nepal had an 18-member executive committee and a 241-member central committee. In other words, combining both parties, there are currently 548 members in the central committee. It is said that the central committee of the unified party will be formed from among them. According to sources, a 251-member working committee has been proposed for the unified party. The central committee, proposed by JSP Nepal Chairman Upendra Yadav, will have 19 office bearers. An internal agreement has been reached between the two parties to adjust the party in a 60-40 ratio. It is said that 60 percent of the leaders in the central committee of the unified party will be from JSP Nepal and 40 percent from Lospa. According to this calculation, many leaders of Lospa are likely to be adjusted in the unified central committee. In the 251-member central committee, there is a possibility of including about 100 people from Lospa, while about two hundred people will be from JSP Nepal. Patron Mahanta Thakur is likely to face the most difficulty in adjusting the office bearers. Since there were 65 office bearers in the former Lospa Nepal, patron Thakur is concerned about how to adjust them in the new structure. Therefore, he wants to call a meeting of the old Lospa to discuss this. Chairman Yadav is not expected to have much problem in selecting office bearers for the unified party, as there were only 18 office bearers in the former JSP Nepal.