KATHMANDU: Chairman Madhav Kumar Nepal of the CPN (Unified Socialist) is currently in a challenging situation. Lately, both Chairman Nepal’s political power and social capital have become weak.

The Unified Socialist, which split from the CPN (UML)—the party Nepal himself organized and led for a long time—by taking a quarter of its strength on August 18, 2021, failed to become a national party in the general elections held 15 months later.

Although the Unified Socialist won 10 seats under the First-Past-the-Post system, it failed to cross the three percent threshold for proportional representation votes.

The Unified Socialist was in an alliance with the Nepali Congress and the CPN (Maoist Centre) in the election. However, the Unified Socialist did inflict serious damage on the UML in the election.

The UML ended up in second place in the House of Representatives, with only a 10-seat difference from the Congress. Following the election, some leaders, including Senior Leader Mukunda Neupane, left the Unified Socialist and returned to the UML.

Lately, Nepal, who is also a former Prime Minister, has suffered a major blow to his social capital. Despite being at the top of the party for a long time, Nepal was known as a leader who had not been implicated in any financial scandal.

However, his name became linked to the investigation into the Patanjali land misappropriation case carried out by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA).

On June 5, 2025, the CIAA filed a corruption case against Nepal, along with 93 others, in the Special Court. Nepal was released on bail after depositing the 3.5 million rupees determined by the Special Court on June 25, 2025. Since the lawsuit was filed, pressure has been mounting within the party for him to step down as chairman.

Nepal has been justifying the case filing against him as being based on political prejudice. He has argued that the CIAA cannot intervene in policy decisions made by the Council of Ministers.

With weakened political power and eroded social capital, Nepal is trying to reawaken himself amidst the new situation developed in the country. For this, Nepal is preparing for party unification with the Maoist Centre in the first phase. However, there is no consensus on this matter within the Unified Socialist.

Former Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal, who holds the second position after Nepal, argues that unification should not take place when the leadership has failed to justify the rebellion from the UML.

“Why did we rebel from the UML four years ago? Was the objective fulfilled or not? If it was fulfilled, the rebellion might be right, but if not, why the hasty unification again? Our leadership has not done the work of justifying the rebellion. Therefore, questions arise when we move to another side before this justification is made,” Khanal said, “Why was the rebellion done, and where did we reach? The Central Committee must solve this.”

In contrast, Chairman Nepal has claimed that the rebellion from the UML was necessary and was carried out. “When we rebelled, we also took the resolve to reorganize and transform the Nepali communist movement. Doing so was also necessary and justifiable. This work is not complete. This is not a task that will be completed immediately either. For that, we have to work hard for a long time. Our effort is continuously ongoing,” Nepal is quoted as saying in the political report presented to the ongoing Central Committee.

He further stated that the adoption of a revolutionary strategy, program, and working procedure different from that embraced by the UML has also proven the justifiability of their rebellion.

CPN (US) General Secretary Ghanshyam Bhusal said that the party should be reorganized before unification with the Maoist Centre. He proposed that Unified Socialist Chairman Nepal and Maoist Centre Coordinator Pushpa Kamal Dahal should remain as advisors to the party. However, neither Dahal nor Nepal agrees with Bhusal’s proposal.

Just like in the Unified Socialist, there is no consensus on the issue of unity within the Maoist Centre either. Narayan Kaji Shrestha and Janardan Sharma, who hold the second rank in the Maoist Centre, are on the side that the Unified Socialist should not be brought in as a divided entity. Bhusal has stated that reorganization will happen first and only then will unity occur. In contrast, Dahal and Nepal are in favor of unification first, followed by reorganization.

Fifty years ago, Madhav Kumar Nepal left his job at Nepal Bank and entered underground politics. Nepal is one of the founders of the ‘Nepal Revolutionary Co-ordination Centre Marxist-Leninist,’ which was formed on June 7 and 8, 1975. This later joined various groups to become the CPN (ML) on December 27, 1977. Even as various groups joined, Nepal remained the second-ranking leader until the fourth general convention of the UML in 1990. After Madan Bhandari became General Secretary, Nepal’s position was taken by Jibraj Ashrit.

After the deaths of both Bhandari and Ashrit in an accident at Dasdhunga, Chitwan, on May 16, 1993, Nepal became the General Secretary of the UML. Nepal played a key role in building the organizational structure of the then-underground ML and later the UML after it entered open politics.

Nepal remained in the continuous leadership of the UML for about a decade and a half. Nepal is considered a leader who is continuously active rather than ideological. Nepal, who strongly advanced the UML in parliamentary politics at a time when communist politics was facing setbacks worldwide, was considered a figure untainted by financial scandal.

Nepal stepped down as General Secretary on moral grounds after the UML was badly defeated in the first Constituent Assembly election in 2008. Nepal himself was defeated in two constituencies, Kathmandu and Rautahat. But he did not stay out of active politics for long.

Nepal, who became a member of the first House of Representatives as a government-nominated member, became Prime Minister on May 25, 2009. His 18-month tenure was spent in conflict with the Maoist party, the largest party in the House of Representatives at the time, and its chairman Dahal.

Within the party, he collaborated with KP Sharma Oli against the then-Chairman Jhalanath Khanal. However, in the Ninth General Convention, there was a contest for the chairmanship between Oli and Nepal.

Cooperation between Nepal and Dahal began when the UML and the Maoist Centre unified to form the CPN on May 17, 2018. This cooperation continued through the time of the CPN and even after the split of the UML. Recently, Nepal and Dahal are working to unify and form a single party.