KATHMANDU, August 14: The Loktantrik Samajwadi Party (LSP) and the newly-formed Nepal Samajwadi Party (NSP) have expressed their willingness to join the ruling five-party coalition. These two parties, which are taking their own initiatives to join the alliance, were formed separately after splitting from the Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP).
Due to this, the leaders of LSP and NSP are afraid that JSP Chairperson Upendra Yadav will be an obstacle for them to join the five-party alliance. JSP Chairperson Yadav has publicly said that he is ready to merge the party with LSP while he has not said anything about NSP.
LSP Chairman Mahanta Thakur recently has talked to Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba several times. According to LSP executive committee member Keshav Jha, Deuba and Thakur have met five times after the local elections. “Our desire is to participate in the five-party alliance. Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has also proposed to participate in the alliance and cooperate with the government," said Jha.
Deuba asks Thakur to join ruling alliance, govt
According to sources, the LSP leaders have been excited by the frequent meetings between Deuba and Thakur while the leaders of the party have reduced the meeting with CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli.
Similarly, LSP Chairman Thakur also seems positive about participating in the alliance. Leaders of the party say that some of the demands made by LSP have been fulfilled while some others are in the process of being fulfilled by the ruling coalition.
Likewise, according to sources, PM Deuba is trying to prevent LSP from forming an alliance with the CPN-UML. Deuba believes that if there is an alliance between UML and LSP, Nepali Congress will have to bear consequences in Madhesh Province. The sources also claimed that JSP Chairman Yadav also expressed his desire to coordinate separately with LSP. However, the LSP leaders say that there is no formal/informal conversation with the leaders of the JSP regarding electoral coordination or party unification.
Meanwhile, NSP, which recently got separated from JSP, has also shown interest in joining the five-party alliance. NSP Chairperson Baburam Bhattarai met Prime Minister Deuba and Maoist Center Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal a few days ago.
"The chairman of our party (Bhattarai) is also interested in being a party of the ruling alliance," said NSP General Secretary Ramesh Yadav.”
