E-Paper
Nepal’s political turmoil may get new twist as Madhesi party gets poll panel nod
Though it has supported the constitutional amendment bill passed by the Nepal government to change the country’s map, the JSPN has been against a new citizenship amendment bill being pushed by the Oli government.
A newly-formed Madhesi party officially registered with Nepal’s election commission on Sunday after all its documents were accepted by the poll panel.
The Janata Samajbadi Party of Nepal (JSPN) was formed on April 23 after the merger of Samajbadi Party Nepal and Rastriya Janata Party Nepal.
The party had applied for registration on June 7, but claimed that the process was delayed by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, who is facing turmoil within his ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP).
The certificate for registration was finally issued on Sunday.
With 32 seats in the Lower House, the JSPN has now become the third-largest party after the NCP with 173 seats and the main Opposition Nepali Congress with 60 seats in the 275-member House of Representatives.
Though it has supported the constitutional amendment bill passed by the Nepal government to change the country’s map, the JSPN has been against a new citizenship amendment bill being pushed by the Oli government which seeks to impose restrictions on people who are not the country’s citizens.
The Madhesis, mostly of Indian-origin, belong to this category.
They had launched a six-month-long agitation during 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 pressure is mounting on Oli to quit the post of the prime minister.
