Split in JSP-N won’t affect stability of Prachanda-led govt, says party chief Upendra Yadav

Kathmandu, May 8 (PTI) Deputy Prime Minister and Chairperson of the Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal (JSP-N) Upendra Yadav on Wednesday said that he will approach the court against the “unconstitutional move” to divide his party when he was abroad as he insisted that the split won’t affect the stability of the coalition government.

The JSP-N, one of the coalition partners in Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda-led government, suffered a division early this week when Yadav was in the US to attend an event. The Election Commission on Monday officially recognised a faction of JSP-N led by Ashok Rai as a new political party.

“The party was unlawfully divided in my absence. This division, driven by personal ambitions, is unconstitutional,” Yadav said during a press conference in Balkumari.

Yadav said they will approach the court as the split of the party was “illegal and unconstitutional”.

He termed the move by Ashok Rai to form a new party namely, Janata Samajbadi Party, a “conspiracy hatched out of power hungry and egoistic attitude”.

Yadav, a senior Madhesi leader, said that Rai divided the party only for his vested interest and blamed it as having no value as it jeopardized federalism and the issue of the identity of Madhesi people.

He said that his party won’t quit the Prachanda-led coalition government.

“The split in the JSP-N won’t affect the stability of the coalition government,” he said, amidst speculation that the split in the Madhesi party could jeopardize the survival of the government.

“I talked to the Prime Minister and assured my party’s continued support to the coalition government,” said Yadav.

Yadav claimed that a majority of lawmakers of his party are with him and he enjoys two-thirds majority support in the Central Working Committee of the party.

He also dismissed the rumour that he was planning with the Nepali Congress-led by Sher Bahadur Deuba and CPN-Unified Socialist led by Madhav Kumar Nepal to topple the Prachanda-led government.

Before the split, in the 275-member federal lower house, the ruling coalition had 154 seats – 16 more than the magic number of 138.

Among them, the CPN-UML has 79 seats (including the Speaker and one suspended lawmaker), the CPN (Maoist Centre) has 32, the Rashtriya Swatantra Party has 21, the JSP-N has 12 seats and the CPN (Unified Socialist) has 10 seats.