Upendra Yadav’s Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP) and Mahanth Thakur’s Loktantrik Samajwadi Party (LSP) have reunited. JSP and LSP are Madhesh-based political parties. Both leaders signed an agreement to reunify their parties ahead of Nepal’s upcoming parliamentary elections.
The unification signals a major realignment of Madheshi politics and aims to strengthen the federal democratic republican system and promote progressive agendas like federalism, identity recognition, proportional inclusion, and social justice. While the parties have agreed to unify, details such as the new party name, election symbol, and organisational structure are still being finalised.
Meanwhile, a faction of the Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP) led by Ashok Rai is reportedly preparing to reunite with the UML, causing a split among party leaders. Leaders are reportedly divided over whether to align with the Madhesi-based parties or the larger communist bloc.
In 2021, leadership disagreements led Mahantha Thakur to split off and form the Loktantrik Samajbadi Party. Even earlier in mid-2022, the Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP) was deeply divided between two main leaders, Upendra Yadav and Baburam Bhattarai. Formal split happened when Ashok Rai’s faction registered a new party called Loktantrik Samajwadi Party, distinct from Yadav’s JSP-Nepal.
The current developments follow a similar trend of the 2022 split, when clashes between Ashok Rai and Upendra Yadav led to separate ways in two factions.
According to sources, now Rai’s faction has reportedly entered into ongoing discussions with UML, while also maintaining contacts with Janardan Sharma’s Pragatisheel Loktantrik Party.
