The Election Commission has decided to award the Janata Samajbadi Party to the Upendra Yadav-Baburam Bhattarai faction.

The decision comes after the commission conducted the headcount of the party’s 51-member central executive committee on Monday. During the counting, there were 34 members with the Yadav-Bhattarai faction.

“The Election Commission’s decision has come in favour of Upendra Yadav,” said Raj Kumar Shrestha, spokesperson for the Election Commission.

After the counting, the numbers were sent to the five-member bench formed by the commission to decide on the Janata Samajbadi Party dispute.

The Janata Samajbadi Party was formed in April last year after the merger between the Mahantha Thakur-led Rastriya Janata Party and Yadav-Bhattarai-led Janata Samajbadi Party. There were 26 members from the Rastriya Janata Party and 25 from the Samajbadi Party in the central executive committee of the unified Janata Samajbadi Party.

During the counting on Monday, Resham Chaudhary, who is serving a jail term in the Dilli Bazaar prison, was brought to the Election Commission, but he decided to stay neutral.

On July 22, the Election Commission decided to go for a headcount of the 51 members of the central executive committee.

Thakur on July 23 moved the Supreme Court demanding an order to the Election Commission to stop the headcount.

On Sunday, a single bench of Justice Kumar Regmi refused to issue an interim order, thus allowing the poll body to continue its process to come up with its decision.

Earlier on Monday, the Thakur led faction had registered a petition at the Election Commission demanding that it stop the headcount. But the commission went ahead, saying it was the decision of the five-member bench formed by the commission.

When the headcount began, as many as nine members close to Mahantha Thakur sided with the Yadav-Bhattarai faction, ensuring a majority to the latter.

Manish Suman, Mrigendra Kumar Singh Yadav, Rajkishor Yadav, Nawal Kishor Sah, Mahendra Raya Yadav, Ram Naresh Yadav, Gajadhar Yadav, Amrita Agrahari and Ramesh Yadav, who were with Thakur, on Monday stood by Yadav and Bhattarai.

Even a year after its formation, the Janata Samajbadi Party was struggling to conclude its unity process. The conflict between the two factions, however, escalated in May this year when Thakur, backed by Rajendra Mahato, decided to support the KP Sharma Oli government, a move that Yadav-Bhattarai faction condemned calling it regressive.

Some members of the Thakur group, including Mahato, were even appointed ministers by then prime minister Oli, but the Supreme Court had quashed their appointments, saying the Cabinet expansion after the House dissolution was unconstitutional.

Oli had dissolved the House on May 21, for a second time in less than six months, after his earlier December 20 decision to dissolve the House was overturned by the Supreme Court on February 23.

With the Election Commission decision to award the Janata Samajbadi Party to the Yadav-Bhattarai group, the Thakur faction can register a new party if it wants.