Chandra Prakash Mainali has been accused of being pro-royalist and has been ousted by a dissident faction of his own party CPN (Marxist Leninist).

The dissident faction led by Rishi Kattel expelled general secretary Mainali from even ordinary membership of the party on Sunday when they organised a separate third national convention.

This has led to formal split of the CPN-ML. This latest split among the leftist outfits comes in the wake of similar split observed in the People’s Front Nepal a few months ago. The PFN had split into three splinters. Both the CPN-ML (as a constituent of Unified Leftist Front) and PFN are the members of the ruling Seven Party Alliance (SPA).

Meanwhile, Kattel has been elected by the dissident faction as the new general secretary while leaders Jitbir Lama, Tanka Rai and Tej Prasad Kandel have been elected as politburo members. They have formed a 20-member central committee. The dissidents have also announced that Mainali no longer is the chairman of the ULF and has urged SPA constituents to recognise them.