A dozen leaders, including former lawmakers Jitendra Narayan Dev and Akbal Ahmad Sah, joined the CPN-UML on Monday. UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli and other leaders welcomed them into the party.

Dev was a leader of the Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar-led Madhesi Janadhikar Forum before it was merged with the Nepali Congress.

Dev, who was with the UML since the early 1990s, joined Madhesh-based parties following the Madhesh movement in 2007 and eventually became a member of the Congress.

Dev was elected to the Constituent Assembly from the Madheshi Janadhikar Forum and to the upper House from the Congress.

Sah is also a former Constituent Assembly member.