Former Maoist Leader Santosh Subedi Joins NCP

Santosh Subedi, a central committee member of the CPN (Maoist) led by Netra Bikram Chand ‘Biplav’, has joined the Nepali Communist Party (NCP).

He officially entered the NCP on Tuesday at the residence of party chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ in Hattiban. Several senior party leaders were present at the program.

Subedi is originally from Rolpa and is the son of National Assembly member Jhakku Prasad Subedi. He had been working with Biplav since the party split led by Mohan Vaidya in 2014.

Biplav has announced that he will contest the upcoming House of Representatives election from Rolpa on March 5. At the same time, Subedi decided to join the NCP and support NCP leader and former Finance Minister Barshaman Pun in the election.

Subedi said he had repeatedly asked Pun not to run from the same constituency as Biplav, but Pun did not agree. He added that local party workers believe Barshaman Pun is more important for Rolpa’s development. Because of this, Subedi decided to leave Biplav’s group and return to his hometown.

Barshaman Pun and Subedi’s father, Jhakku Prasad Subedi, were also present at the party entry event. Pun, who was elected from Rolpa in 2017 and 2022, is preparing to contest the election again.