The CPN (Maoist Centre) and CPN (Unified Socialist) have decided to contest the upcoming federal and provincial elections with a common manifesto.

A meeting between Maoist chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Unified Socialist chair Madhav Kumar Nepal on Monday took a decision to that effect, according to party leaders.

“We have decided to go to the polls with a common manifesto,” Unified Socialist chair Nepal told the Post.

The development comes amid talks about unification between the two parties.

The Unified Socialist has already formed a unification coordination committee.

The Maoist Centre has also decided to form a coordination committee for the unification with the Unified Socialist.

The Unified Socialist was formed in August last year after splitting from the CPN-UML. Both communist parties are part of the current ruling coalition led by the Nepali Congress.

The Maoist Centre, which emerged as the third largest party from the May local elections, is seeking to form a large communist front minus the UML in a bid to keep the main opposition in check and block the Congress from winning close to majority seats.

The Unified Socialist, whose local poll performance was poor, wants the Maoist Centre to give it a piggyback.

Monday’s development comes on the heels of the decisions by the Nepal Samajbadi Party, led by former Maoist leader Baburam Bhattarai, and former UML leader Bamdev Gautam, who leads Communist Party of Nepal National Unity Campaign, to contest the elections under the Maoist election symbol—hammer and sickle inside a circle.