A power struggle within the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) in Bagmati province has intensified, with a faction led by parliamentary leader Uddhav Thapa seeking to remove five provincial lawmakers, days after party chair Rajendra Lingden moved against three others and stripped Thapa of his parliamentary leadership.

The Thapa-led faction wrote to the Bagmati provincial assembly secretariat on Wednesday, seeking action against Bhuwan Kumar Pathak, Kumari Tamang, Laxmi Ghimire, Dhaneshwari Prajapati and Asha Lama.

The five lawmakers were accused of defying the party’s whip during chief minister Kiran Thapa Magar’s floor test by staying away from the provincial assembly meeting.

The letter, issued on the RPP Bagmati parliamentary party’s letterhead, said the lawmakers had disregarded the party’s instruction to vote in favour of the chief minister. It also accused them of failing to respond to requests for clarification and violating the party and parliamentary group’s rules.

The move comes amid a growing dispute over who controls the RPP’s parliamentary group in Bagmati and whether the party should support the provincial government.

Lingden had earlier initiated disciplinary action against three RPP lawmakers serving in the provincial government, Raju Bista, Rajendra Prajapati and Gir Bahadur Tamang, accusing them of acting against the party’s interests.

He subsequently announced Thapa’s removal as parliamentary party leader. Thapa’s faction, however, has rejected the move and maintains that it remains the legitimate parliamentary group leadership.