The CPN (Unified Socialist) and the CPN Unity National Campaign, led by Bamdev Gautam, have officially merged. The unification was announced at a function held at the Rastriya Sabha Griha in Kathmandu on Friday afternoon.

With the merger, Bamdev Gautam, the campaign coordinator, has formally joined the CPN (Unified Socialist).

He has been given the third most senior position in the Unified Socialist after party chair Madhav Kumar Nepal and senior leader Jhalanath Khanal.

They decided to unite after reaching consensus on political ideology, principles, programmes, strategies, and direction. Leaders said the unification aims to strengthen Nepal’s communist movement through broader left unity.

Top leaders from both sides had earlier signed a letter of understanding, which was approved by a meeting of the Unity National Campaign on Thursday.

Leaders Nepal, Khanal, and Gautam addressed the gathering, delivering messages of unity and ideological alignment.

The Unified Socialist and the group led by Gautam had split from the CPN-UML in 2021 and had been operating separately since. Over the past four years, both sides engaged in formal and informal negotiations towards party reunification.

Leaders on both sides said the merger represents an important milestone in building a united front for Nepal’s leftist forces and in countering political fragmentation within the communist bloc.

A key leader of the CPN-UML, Gautam played an important role in shaping Nepal’s leftist politics during the democratic movement of the 1990s and held several ministerial portfolios, including that of home minister and deputy prime minister.

He was appointed a National Assembly member in 2020 under a quota to be nominated by the President, as recommended by the government.

In 2021, when a group of leaders led by former prime ministers Nepal and Khanal split the UML and formed the CPN (Unified Socialist), Gautam chose not to join the new party.

He then launched the CPN Unity National Campaign after voicing dissatisfaction with UML leadership, particularly KP Sharma Oli.

He claimed that by not joining any side–the UML, Unified Socialist and Maoist Centre–he would work to bring all the communist forces under a single umbrella.

He also held several rounds of negotiations with the UML leader to merge his faction into the mother party. However, they couldn’t reach an agreement.

Failing to convince other parties for unification, Gautam has eventually chosen to merge his faction into the Unified Socialist, which has 10 seats in the House of Representatives and eight in the National Assembly. With Gautam joining the party, the Unified Socialist is now has a strength of nine seats in the upper chamber.