Newly-formed Madhesi party registers with Nepal's election commission

A newly-formed Madhesi party officially registered with Nepal's election commission on Thursday, becoming the third-largest political party in the country. Janata Samajbadi Party was formed on April 23 after the merger of Samajbadi Party Nepal and Rastriya Janata Party Nepal. Raj Kumar Shrestha, a spokesperson of the Election Commission, said that Janata Samajbadi Party has been officially registered at the commission and that it will get a certification of party registration on Friday.

A newly-formed Madhesi party officially registered with Nepal's election commission on Thursday, becoming the third-largest political party in the country. Janata Samajbadi Party was formed on April 23 after the merger of Samajbadi Party Nepal and Rastriya Janata Party Nepal.

Raj Kumar Shrestha, a spokesperson of the Election Commission, said that Janata Samajbadi Party has been officially registered at the commission and that it will get a certification of party registration on Friday. On June 7, the leaders of the two parties had applied for registration.

With 32 seats in the Lower House, the Janata Samajbadi Party has now become the third-largest party after the ruling Nepal Communist Party with 173 seats and the main Opposition Nepali Congress with 60 seats in the 275 member House of Representatives. Madhesis, mostly of Indian-origin, launched a six-month-long agitation during Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli's previous term in 2015-16 in which more than 50 people were killed.

The agitation had also crippled the landlocked country's economy as supplies from India were blocked. The new Madhesi party can play a crucial role in Nepal's political spectrum as the ruling Communist Party of Nepal is on the verge of a split with dissident leaders asking Prime Minister Oli to quit.

The political future of Oil is expected to be decided on Friday during the ruling party's Standing Committee meeting. An NCP faction led by executive chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' has been demanding Oli's resignation, saying his recent anti-India remarks were "neither politically correct nor diplomatically appropriate." 

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)