Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) has written to the Parliament Secretariat to strip Ram Bahadur Thapa, who is home minister in the Oli Cabinet, of his post of lawmaker.

According to Maoist Centre sources, party chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal has informed the Parliament Secretariat through a letter that the party had taken action against Thapa for abandoning the party.

The action has been initiated as per Political Parties Act as Thapa has quit the party, said Dina Nath Sharma, the Maoist Centre leader in the National Assembly.

“Once an individual leaves the party from which he/she was elected, his/her Federal Parliament membership becomes null and void,” said Sharma. “We had asked Thapa to furnish clarification, but it was not satisfactory.”

Dashrath Dhamala, deputy spokesperson for the Parliament Secretariat, said that the Maoist Centre’s letter has been registered.

Thapa’s membership will be officially annulled once the National Assembly convenes.

“The whole process will be completed once the Parliament Secretariat publishes a notice, which will be sent to the Council of Ministers and published in the Nepal Gazette,” Dhamala said.

Thapa, who was Dahal’s close ally during the Maoist war, sided with Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli when the latter dissolved the House of Representatives.

Two weeks after the House was restored, the Supreme Court scrapped the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) and revived the UML and the Maoist Centre.

Thapa, however, refused to return to the Maoist Centre. Instead, Oli nominated him as a central member of the UML and he has been appointed Bagmati Province in-charge of the party.

Thapa faces action days after the Maoist Centre relieved four ministers in the Oli Cabinet of their positions as lawmakers of the House of Representatives because they too had deserted the party to join the UML.

These include Energy Minister Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, Industry Minister Lekharaja Bhatta, Urban Development Minister Prabhu Sah and Labour Minister Gauri Shankar Chaudhary.

They can, however, continue as ministers for six months.

According to constitutional provisions, those not elected to any of the two houses can be appointed a minister, but they must become members of either the House of Representatives or the National Assembly within six months.

The House memberships of Bhatta, Shah, Rayamajhi and Chaudhary were annulled on Thursday as per the Maoist Centre’s action against them for leaving the party.

Bhatta was elected from Kailali Constituency 4, Rayamajhi was elected from Arghakhanchi, Sah from Rautahat Constituency 3 and Chaudhary was elected from Kailali Constituency 3 from the Maoist Centre in the 2017 elections.