Chairman of CPN (Maoist Centre) Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Netra Bikram Chand, general secretary of Nepal Community Party, shared a stage in Bharatpur, Chitwan on Saturday and underscored the need for party unification among all the Maoist outfits in the country.

Attending a programme organised at Bharatpur Metropolitan City-13, Dahal and Chand jointly urged all the Maoist groups to make a stronger political force in the present context of Nepal.

“I will move forward for party unity unequivocally,” said Dahal, the former prime minister and parliamentary party leader of the main opposition party in the House of Representatives. “We will have to regain the political strength the party had in 2008 [during the first election of Constituent Assembly].”

The then CPN (Maoist) led by Dahal was the largest party in the first Constituent Assembly election held in 2008. The party later split into various outfits including the Chand-led Nepal Communist Party. Speaking at the programme, Dahal appealed to participants to make a united Maoist party by the upcoming general election of 2027.

Similarly, Chand also emphasised for unity among the Maoist parties to resolve the current political problems in the country. “If all the Maoist parties come together and contest the upcoming general election, the united party will be as it was in the Constituent Assembly election in 2008,” Chand said. He urged all the Maoist breakaway factions not to criticise one another but to move forward united for the welfare of the country and people.

In another context, Chand lambasted the Rastriya Swatantra Party led by Rabi Lamichhane, who is currently in police custody on charges of cooperative fraud and organised crime. He said the party “established overnight” has confused the people.