KATHMANDU: Fifty-five district committee members of the CPN-UML, including Sankhuwasabha district committee chairman Hem Raj Ghimire, have defected into the newly-formed CPN Unified Socialist.

They announced their party defecation at a meeting of the Unified Socialist district coordination committee that has begun here on Saturday.

Of 26 UML Secretariat members, 15 have publicly joined the Unified Socialist led by Madhav Kumar Nepal. Some of those who joined the Unified Socialist have already been verified in the new party and the process to this effect for others is underway, it has been said.

The three-day meeting will prepare party’s future course, said the Unified Socialist, Sankhuwasabha.