The Madhav Kumar Nepal faction that has parted ways with the CPN-UML and applied for a new party at the Election Commission with the name CPN UML (Samajbadi) has now changed the name to CPN (Ekikrit Samajbadi).

The group proposed a new party name after the Election Commission said that it was similar to another party already registered with the poll body.

Rajendra Pandey, a leader from the Nepal faction, and others had reached the commission office to apply for the new party name on Friday.

“A proposal for a new party name was filed at the Election Commission at around 1pm today,” said Raj Kumar Shrestha, spokesperson for the Election Commission. “The commission will take a final decision after the registration process of the new party is completed.”

The Nepal faction had been having issues with UML chair KP Sharma Oli for a long time. UML lawmakers belonging to the Nepal faction had even voted for Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba when he went for a floor test on July 18, widening differences in the communist party.

Though second-run leaders were attempting for party unity, bitterness had grown between Oli and Nepal.

But the Nepal faction lacked the numbers to split the party.

An ordinance to amend the Political Parties Act-2017 on Wednesday facilitated the UML split.

The amended clauses in the Act say a group can break away from the mother party and register a new one if it can show it has control over 20 percent members in the Central Committee and Parliamentary Party.

Soon after the ordinance was promulgated by President Bidya Devi Bhandari, the Nepal faction had on Thursday applied for a new party proposing the name as CPN UML (Samajbadi).

Leaders said it has now been changed to CPN (Ekikrit Samajbadi).

While responding to a petition filed by Rishiram Kattel, the Supreme Court on March 7 had directed the Election Commission not to award any group a party name that is similar to any other party registered with it.

The March 7 ruling had invalidated the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) and revived the UML and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre).

Kattel had claimed that the Nepal Communist Party name was already registered under his name.

The UML and the Maoist Centre had merged in May 2018 to form the Nepal Communist Party. However, since the name was already registered with the Election Commission under Kattel, the Election Commission had registered the merged party as the Nepal Communist Party (NCP)–with NCP within brackets.