Mahanta Thakur removed as chair of JSP-N

KATHMANDU: Mahanta Thakur has been legally removed from his post of chairman of Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal (JSP-N).

A meeting presided over by Parliamentary Party leader of JSP-N Upendra Yadav made the decision to this effect on Monday, Election Commission Secretary Suresh Adhikari said.

Thakur was removed as chairman after the EC updated the new executive committee of the JSP-N and registered the 35-member committee.

After the JSP-N registered its Central Executive Committee at the EC without 16 members of the Thakur faction, the status of Thakur, Rajendra Mahato and Sarad Singh Bhandari among others has become like that of general members.

The Election Commission (EC) on July 26 had granted the party name and election symbol to the Upendra Yadav-Baburam Bhattarai faction of the Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal (JSP-N) after 34 members of the party’s 51-member executive committee supported the faction during the support verification process.             Only 16 members of the committee had thrown their weight behind the Thakur faction.                                                                       The dispute in party intensified after the Thakur faction decided to support KP Sharma Oli for prime ministership while Yadav faction decided to support Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur in his bid for prime ministership.