KATHMANDU, 8 March 2021, (TON): In a huge blow to the two warring leaders amidst a tussle for power, Nepal’s Supreme Court on 3 March quashed the unification of the erstwhile Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) led by Prime Minister K  Sharma Oli and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Center) led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda.

The CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Centre) merged in May 2018 to form a unified Nepal Communist Party following victory of their alliance in the 2017 general elections.

On Sunday, an apex court bench of justices Kumar Regmi and Bam Kumar Shrestha issued the verdict giving authenticity of the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) to Rishiram Kattel, who had registered the party at the Election Commission (EC) in his name prior to the formation of Nepal Communist Party (NCP) led by Oli and Prachanda, The Kathmandu Post newspaper reported. Kattel had challenged the Election Commission’s decision to register Nepal Communist Party (NCP) under Oli and Prachanda in May 2018. The Bench said that a new party cannot be registered with the Election Commission when it already has a party registered with a similar name.