The Janamat Party, led by CK Raut, and the Nagarik Unmukti Party (NUP), led by Ranjita Chaudhary, have finalized the name, leadership, and flag of their unified party.
The two parties, which have been working on unification in Bardiya, the home district of NUP patron Resham Chaudhary, have agreed on a framework for the merger.
According to Janamat Party Vice-chairman Abdul Khan, CK Raut will become the chairman of the unified party with executive powers. NUP Chair Ranjita Chaudhary will serve as co-chairperson.
Khan said that NUP patron Chaudhary will remain the patron of the unified party with the first rank in the hierarchy.
Chaudhary founded the Nagarik Unmukti Party in 2021 while still in prison. As he was serving a life sentence after being convicted as the main culprit in the Tikapur massacre, he formed the party under the leadership of his wife, Ranjita Shrestha, at the time.
Chaudhary held the party’s first convention in early January last year and declared himself chairman, but the Election Commission refused to grant legitimacy to his leadership and did not recognize the convention either.
Subsequently, NUP reverted to its previous working committee under Ranjita Chaudhary.
Khan said an understanding has been reached to assign Chaudhary the role of patron with the first rank in the unified party. Raut will hold the second rank, while Ranjita will be third in the hierarchy.
Additionally, it has been agreed that Raut will lead and oversee party activities east of Chitwan, while Chaudhary will lead the party’s work west of Chitwan.
The name of the unified party has also been finalized. According to Khan, it will be called the Nagarik Janamat Party.
The party flag will be rectangular in shape and will have a ‘dhakiya’ (a traditional woven basket) with a white base against a maroon background.
Khan said that an agreement has been reached to use the dhakiya as the election symbol as well.
According to Khan, the unified party’s central committee will consist of 700 members. Since NUP alone has a central committee exceeding 500 members, combining the two parties will result in a larger central committee.
NUP leader Damodar Pandit also said that not only the name, leadership, flag, and election symbol, but also the procedures of party unification have been finalized.
“Task force meetings are also ongoing besides the top leaders’ meetings. The top leaders have finalized the fundamental issues. The NUP is working on the unified party’s statute by forming a statute replacement committee. Janamat is also doing the same. The unification task forces of both parties are discussing the remaining issues,” he said.
Janamat Chairman Raut and NUP patron Chaudhary met for discussions at Chaudhary’s residence in Bardiya on Sunday morning. It was followed by a task force meeting. Khan said that the top leaders and task forces will hold separate meetings on Monday as well to finalize the unification.
Janamat has formed a task force led by Khan, with Sharad Singh Yadav and Bal Govind Chaudhary as members, to facilitate the unification.
The NUP has formed its own unification task force comprising House of Representatives members Ganga Chaudhary, Sunita Chaudhary, and Ramlal Dagora Tharu.
The task forces began discussions on March 23.
The NUP has called a central committee meeting in Tikapur, Kailali, for April 16. While the meeting is expected to endorse the unification proposal prepared by the task force, both parties are set to finalize the merger before that.
If the NUP and Janamat unite, they will have as many parliamentarians in the federal Parliament as the CPN (Unified Socialist). However, the Unified Socialist could not become a national party as it failed to cross the threshold of three percent in the proportional representation electoral system.
In the House of Representatives, Janamat has six lawmakers, and the NUP has four. Janamat heads the Madhes provincial government, with Satish Kumar Singh as chief minister.
In the Madhes Provincial Assembly, Janamat has 13 lawmakers, and the NUP has one. In Sudur Paschim province, the NUP has seven lawmakers. In Lumbini province, the NUP has four lawmakers, and Janamat has three.
