Bam Dev Gautam, who quit CPN-UML a few months back, is set to form a new party.
He will hold a press conference later Tuesday to announce the new party.
Gautam, who had lost the last House of Representatives (HoR) election from Bardiya on a CPN-UML ticket despite the party’s alliance with CPN (Maoist Center) with promise to unify after the election, was nominated to the National Assembly by President Bidya Devi Bhandari in September 2020 on recommendation of the then CPN government.
He was vice-chairman of both UML and CPN.
He had held a national convention for left unity a few days back. Gautam had also called a similar gathering in February 2021 to put pressure for unity when internal dispute in the then CPN—formed after unification of CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Center)—was near boiling point with chairman KP Sharma Oli leading one faction that was challenged by the faction of another chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Madhav Kumar Nepal.
The Dahal-Nepal faction had clear majority in CPN and had even expelled Oli. Gautam was neutral even then. He is not active in UML after the Supreme Court (SC) invalidated unification of CPN in March 2021 restoring the two parties to the state before unification.
Gautam is not in UML also due to the provision that prohibits leaders above 70 years from active politics.
