In the wake of the historic Gen Z movement against corruption and the dominance of elderly politicians in Nepali politics, the chairman of the Nepal Socialist Party (Naya Shakti), Baburam Bhattarai, resigned from his position on Wednesday.

The 71-year-old submitted his resignation during a special plenum of the party’s central committee in Kathmandu.

Manushi Yami Bhattarai, a member of the party’s special convention committee and Bhattarai’ daughter, confirmed to the Post that the chairman has stepped down. The fringe party had no representation in the recently dissolved Parliament.

“Chairman Bhattarai has not resigned in the conventional sense. He has rather relinquished his position. The party has therefore decided to form a general convention organising committee led by party vice-chair Durga Sob. Discussions are ongoing regarding holding the general convention,” she said

After the split in the then Nepal Samajbadi Party, Bhattarai was elected as chairman of the Nepal Samajbadi Party (Naya Shakti) through a convention held in February.

Wednesday’s meeting also decided to dissolve the central committee and proceed towards a special general convention before the general election, which has been scheduled for March 5.

According to a party leader, Bhattrarai resigned to engage in discussions with new alternative political forces.

“Considering the current situation, the idea is to engage in discussions and consultations not only within the party but also with alternative forces outside the party to fulfill the needs and aspirations of the country," the leader said.

“We are planning to hold the special convention sometime before the parliamentary elections,” Baburam Bhattarai told the Post.

The organising committee has 99 members. Within six months, the committee will hold a special general convention to determine new policies and leadership suited to the new context. Bhattarai also informed the meeting that he would work towards unifying alternative political forces.

Although Bhattarai himself was targeted in the recent Gen Z movement, he strongly supported the movement’s demands. His house was attacked during the protests on September 9, when protesters destroyed his private residence by setting it on fire. The former Maoist leader was elected party chair in February by defeating his rival Netra Chapagain.

Bhattarai, a key figure in Nepal’s decade-long Maoist insurgency (1996-2006), left the CPN (Maoist Centre) in 2015, shortly after the promulgation of the constitution by the constituent assembly.

Bhattarai, who was prime minister from August 2011 to March 2013, founded the Naya Shakti Party in 2016, aiming to establish an alternative political force. In May 2019, he merged the party with the Sanghiya Samajbadi Forum led by Upendra Yadav to form Sanghiya Samajbadi Party, which eventually in 2020 merged with the Rastriya Janata Party to form the Janata Samajbadi Party. After multiple mergers and divisions, Bhattarai along with Mahindra Raya Yadav, a senior Madhesi leader, registered yet another new party Nepal Samajbadi Party in 2022.