The Upendra Yadav-Baburam Bhattarai faction of the Janata Samajbadi Party is set to get the party name and election symbol as 34 out of 51 members of its central executive committee stood with them during the headcount by the Election Commission on Monday.
As many as nine leaders close to Mahantha Thakur sided with the Yadav-Bhattarai faction, ensuring a majority for the latter.
After the merger of Thakur-led Rastriya Janata Party and Yadav-Bhattarai-led Samajbadi Party in April last year, the unified Janata Samajbadi Party had formed a 51 central executive committee. There were 26 members from Rastriya Janata Party and 25 from the Samajbadi Party.
“The counting is over. The numbers will be sent to the bench which will take a decision, most probably today itself,” said Raj Kumar Shrestha, spokesperson of the Election Commission.
A five-member bench of all the commissioners of the poll body was formed in the leadership of Chief Election Commissioner Dinesh Thapaliya on July 7 to settle Janata Samajbadi Party dispute.
With the Yadav-Bhattarai faction managing to bring nine members from Thakur’s side to its fold, Thakur is in a minority.
The Thakur faction is now left with just 16 central executive committee members.
Manish Suman, Mrigendra Kumar Singh Yadav, Rajkishor Yadav, Nawal Kishor Sah, Mahendra Raya Yadav, Ram Naresh Yadav, Gajadhar Yadav, Amrita Agrahari and Ramesh Yadav, who were with Thakur, on Monday stood by Yadav and Bhattarai.
Resham Chaudhary, who is serving a jail term in Dilli Bazaar Prison, was brought to the Election Commission during the headcount, but he decided to stay neutral.
Before leaving the commission premises, Chaudhary said he could not take sides because he was in favour of a unified Janata Samajbadi Party.
Yadav said that the party would decide whether to accept Thakur and others depending on if they are ready to self-criticise publicly for supporting a regressive force.
“We had not pushed them away. They lost their way and went very far,” Yadav told reporters after the authentication at the Election Commission. “Party will take a decision if they publicly self-criticize for supporting the unconstitutional and regressive force.”
The Thakur-Mahato led faction had decided to support the KP Sharma Oli government, to which the Yadav-Bhattarai faction had taken exception.
On July 22, the Election Commission decided to go for a headcount of the 51 members of the central executive committee.
Thakur on July 23 moved the Supreme Court demanding an order to the Election Commission to stop the headcount.
On Sunday, a single bench of Justice Kumar Regmi refused to issue an interim order, thus allowing the poll body to continue its process to come up with its decision.
Earlier on Monday, the Thakur led faction had registered a petition at the Election Commission demanding that it stop the headcount. But the commission went ahead, saying it was the decision of the five-member bench formed by the commission.
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