Former prime minister Baburam Bhattarai, who quit the UCPN (Maoist) two months ago, and his supporters have started the process to form the organisational structure for what he calls ‘Naya Shakti’ or ‘new force’.

Before formally registering it as a new party, we will form an informal organisational structure, said leaders close to Bhattarai. The leaders said they have started a campaign to form the structure from the grassroots level.

 “We have already deployed our central and district level leaders for the same,” Kumar Poudel, a senior leader of the campaign, adding that issuance of party membership would begin from the grassroots level.

Bhattarai on September 26-just a week after the constitution was promulgated-announced that he was severing ties with the UCPN (Maoist). Bhattarai was chairman of the constitution political, dialogue and consensus committee of then Constituent Assembly before the promulgation of the constitution. Bhattarai served as the prime minister from August 29, 2011 to March 14, 2013.

Bhattarai’s ‘Naya Shakti’, about which he had been talking for quite some time, was formally launched in Kathmandu last week.

According to leaders, people ‘with clean image’ can join the new party led by Bhattarai and that they will try to woo cadres and leaders from other parties as well.

The campaign to form the organisational structure for the party will run for two months. During this two-month campaign, according to leaders, they will solicit views on ideology, policy and programmes for the new party.

“We will reach out to the grassroots before we shape up our ideological position,” said Poudel. After the completion of the two-month campaign, Bhattarai plans to register a new party. Bhattarai has also formed ethnic party structures such as Newa, Tamsaling, which were conceived during the decade-long armed conflict.

Bhattarai’s ‘Naya Shakti’, after its gets a formal shape as a party, plans to back the protests of Madhes-based parties and ethnic groups.

Bhattarai is in consultation with top leaders of Madhes-based parties and others about organising protests in Kathmandu.

Bhattarai had earlier planned to involve non-partisan people in his ‘Naya Shakti, but it could not get momentum for various reasons.

Now, according to leaders, Bhattarai and his supporters are planning to attract the cadres of the UCPN (Maoist) and retired Maoist combatants who do not have any solid responsibilities in the party.  Negotiations with some fringe parties are also underway in order to bring them to the new political party, according to leaders.