Three days after CPN-UML central committee prevented former President Bidya Devi Bhandari from rejoining the party, she declared on Friday that “no one can snatch my party membership”.

Bhandari harbours a desire to become the UML chairman by challenging the incumbent KP Sharma Oli, who is also the prime minister. She held a press conference on Friday and expressed her dissatisfaction with the decision taken by the UML’s central committee.

Bhandari, a former vice-chair of the UML, became the country’s president. She is the spouse of the late Madan Bhandari, the chief ideologue of the UML who died mysteriously in a car accident in 1993.

A recent central committee meeting of the UML decided not to renew her party membership arguing that once a politician becomes the head of state, protector of the constitution, and supreme commander of the Nepal Army, s/he should not return to party politics.

The UML central committee meeting that concluded on Tuesday midnight decided not to approve the renewal of Bhandari’s membership, reasoning that individuals who have held high constitutional positions such as President and Vice President should not return to party politics as that goes against the spirit of the constitution.

Challenging the UML’s decision, Bhandari lambasted the decision taken by her mother party. The UML had also urged her to maintain her status as a former head of state. The meeting said such a move could raise questions over the constitutionality and impartiality of decisions made while in office, undermine democratic values, and tarnish the dignity of the individual concerned.

Bhandari on Friday rejected the decision taken by the UML leadership and said she will conduct political activities as its leader. She warned top UML leaders that no one can prevent her from joining the party. “My membership [in the UML] is 45 years old. Therefore, no one can bar me from the party’s politics,” she told journalists.

Her return in party politics has deeply divided the UML. She has been receiving a rousing welcome each time she visits a place to meet cadres. This is perceived as UML workers’ response to Oli's “divisive” and “autocratic” style of running the party.

In her two-page statement, Bhandari said: “I have rejoined the political life of the CPN-UML. I took the oath of office as President after being a party member for 35 years. I did not leave the party.”

Bhandari clarified that she did not become the President by leaving the party, and that she has renewed her party membership by once again taking up responsibilities in the party.

She declared that no one can revoke her membership just because they want to do so.

“Just because someone feels like it now, I don’t think they can take away my membership,” Bhandari said. She clarified that her engagement with the party organisation follows a proper procedure.

Very few central committee members expressed reservations over Oli’s plan to stop Bhandari from renewing her party membership. Earlier it was said that he had renewed her party membership soon after she left the presidential office more than two years ago.

Later some UML leaders claimed that her membership renewal was on hold. The recently concluded central committee meeting aborted her reentry into the UML.

The former President’s political ambition has divided the Nepali polity. Nepali Congress and Rastriya Swatantra Party have said that the former President, on moral grounds, should not return to active politics. But leaders close to the leftist parties are divided. Some say it is morally bad for someone who has held such a high office to return to party politics.

Bhandari reiterated that she had already renewed her party membership and there was no reason to drag it into a controversy. She said that returning to politics after completing her presidential term was her constitutional right and no one should deem it as inappropriate.

“I have exercised my constitutional right to re-enter politics,” she said.

She accused the UML leadership of trying to undermine her political right by calling her return unconstitutional.

“The constitution guarantees the right to political participation. There is nothing in the constitution, laws or the party statute that bars me from joining politics again,” she said.

Bhandari said she would strengthen the party and uphold its ideological principles, including the People’s Multiparty Democracy line which was propagated by her late husband Madan Bhandari.

She criticised the UML’s decision to block her return as ‘emotional and impulsive.’

“Denying my party membership despite my commitment to its principles is unacceptable,” she said. “I urge all party members to firmly uphold the party’s values and work towards building a stronger organisation.”

The party earlier endorsed a statutory amendment to remove the 70-year age limit and two-term cap for executive positions, a change Bhandari was reportedly hoping to use to challenge party chair Oli.

However, the same meeting saw strong opposition to Bhandari’s return, with over 90 percent of central members backing Oli.

Analysts say Bhandari’s attempt to re-enter UML politics poses a serious challenge to Oli’s leadership. Although Oli has consolidated power within the party since the 10th General Convention held in 2021, Bhandari retains significant grassroots influence, partly through the Madan Bhandari Foundation.