CK Raut has been re-elected unopposed as chair of the Janamat Party after no other candidate filed for the top post.

“Only my candidacy has been registered for the chairperson’s post. I now need to secure at least 20 percent of the votes as required by the party statute,” Raut said.

The party will hold its second general convention in Birgunj on September 25 and 26. Of the 150 central committee positions, 100 will be filled through direct elections, Raut said.

The convention will elect a 151-member central committee, including one chair, seven vice-chairs, one general secretary, one deputy general secretary and seven secretaries, making 17 office-bearers in total.

The party has scheduled the publication of the voter list for Wednesday and candidate nominations for September 17. Voting for the 100 directly elected central committee members and office-bearers, except the chair, will take place on September 26.

The Janamat Party held its first general convention at Barahbigha in Janakpur on April 10, 2021, when Raut was elected chair.

Raut entered mainstream politics after reaching an 11-point agreement with the government led by then-prime minister KP Sharma Oli in March 2019. He declared that he accepted Nepal’s Constitution and would pursue politics within the mainstream political system.

Before that, after returning to Nepal from the United States, Raut had led a campaign for an independent Madhes. The government at the time restricted his activities, and he was arrested in October 2018 and spent about five months in prison.