Weeks after the cancellation of its merger plan with the Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal (RPP-N), a storm is brewing in the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), with the faction led by former prime minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand giving a 15-day ultimatum to party Chairman Pashupati Shumsher Rana to resume the merger process.

As many as 46 Central Working Committee members, of the total 107, have demanded that the party leadership start the process for unity with the RPP-N. They have claimed that majority of party cadres are in favour of merger.

The two right wing parties were set to announce their merger on August 9, but RPP Chairman Rana on the same day, hours before the scheduled programme, called it off, saying, “The merger is not possible for the time being.”

Jayanta Chand, a CWC member who is for restarting the unity process, said, “We hope the party leadership understands the sentiments of the cadres.” He even warned of the party “taking a different course” if the merger process “fails to start in the next 15 days”.

Some of the party leaders under the leadership of Deputy General Secretary Hem Jung Gurung and the entire district committee members from Lamjung have already left the RPP to join the RPP-N.

Similarly, a majority of district committee members of Jajarkot and Manang joined the CPN-UML after the party decided to cancel its merger with the RPP-N.

Earlier during the unity negotiations between the two parties, the RPP-N had agreed to give the RPP an equal share—150 members—in the CWC, and the latter had agreed to let the RPP-N, which is double in size, lead the united party.

“The instances of Lamjung, Jajarkot and Manang are not very encouraging. If the party leadership does not realise this in time, in a few years, we will be nowhere in national politics,” said Chand, warning the leadership of the dangers of not taking immediate measures to fix the problem. However, leaders from the establishment faction have a different take.

RPP Deputy Spokesperson Kiran Giri said those calling for merger with the RPP-N are in minority. “Party decisions are taken on majority basis. The party will follow what the majority decides,” he said. After RPP’s Rana called off unity programme, RPP-N Chairman Kamal Thapa had also said cadres were disappointed by the decision.

The RPP was formed in 1990 with Thapa as a key central member. But the party split on January 9, 2006 following differences over former king Gyanendra Shah’s move of assuming absolute power. Thapa’s faction, which welcomed Shah’s move, then formed the new party. Under pressure from their cadres, the two parties had started a unification bid a year ago.