The CPN-UML has become the first major entity affected by a government circular issued on Wednesday, directing organizations to vacate land held under usufruct rights but not converted into lease agreements according to law.
Following the directive issued by the Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation, the UML will now have to relocate its central office in Chyasal, Lalitpur. The party has already begun preparations for the move.
According to a list prepared by the Department of Land Management and Archive, 342 organizations across the country have been granted rights to use government-owned land. Those that failed to convert such rights into leases must now vacate the land. The land occupied by the UML central office in Chyasal is among them.
The building housing the UML office was constructed on land granted to the Tulsi Lal Memorial Foundation under usufruct rights. On June 13, 2016, the government had instructed organizations to convert such rights into lease agreements, but the foundation failed to do so. Instead, it rented the property to the UML beginning in 2021.
Under the government’s February 22, 2002 decision granting usufruct rights, the land could not be rented to a third party. After the government ordered the foundation to vacate the illegally rented property, UML has been forced to prepare for relocation.
According to UML publicity department chief Min Bahadur Shahi, the party has not yet received an official notice specifically ordering the office relocation, but internal discussions are underway.
“We learned about the general notice asking organizations to vacate usufruct land, but we have not received a separate circular,” he told Setopati. “We are still discussing the office relocation.”
The foundation had obtained usufruct rights over two plots of land in the former Ward No. 9 of Lalitpur. One plot measured 9 ropani 4 aana 2 paisa 2 daam, while the other measured 3 ropani 2 aana 3 paisa 1 daam.
Currently, the UML occupies the entire building complex across the Chyasal road. The structure, which was set on fire during the Gen Z protests in September last year, was rebuilt within a month and brought back into use by the party.
The UML has been operating from rented offices since the 2015 earthquake. After its Balkhu headquarters collapsed in the earthquake, the party moved to a building owned by the Pasang Lhamu Memorial Foundation in Dhumbarahi. Questions later arose over the legality of that arrangement as well, prompting the UML to relocate to a businessman’s house in Thapathali Height. After the house there proved too small, the party eventually moved to Chyasal.
Businessman Min Bahadur Gurung, operator of Bhat Bhateni Supermarket, had laid the foundation stone in October 2024 promising to donate 10 ropani 14 aana of land and construct a new building for UML. Although he pledged to complete and hand over the building within a year, construction had not begun.
After Bhat Bhateni also became a target for arson attacks and vandalism during the Gen Z protests on September 8-9, Gurung himself faced difficulties and informed that UML that he could no longer build the party’s office.
With the government now requiring the UML to vacate the Chyasal premises, the party has been compelled to search for a new headquarters.
