KATHMANDU: Mahantha Thakur faction has changed the name of the party.

Leader Keshav Jha of the faction said the party would now be named Loktantrik Samajwadi Party.

Initially, Thakur faction wanted to register the name ‘Janata Samajbadi Party Nepal (Democratic)’ with the Election Commission (EC) following the government issuance of an ordinance on political parties that enabled disgruntled leaders to split the party with the support of 20 percent leaders in parliamentary party or in central committee.

However, EC officials said as per the decision of the Supreme Court on March 7, 2021, one cannot register a new party by tweaking the name of an already registered party.

After regulations for political parities was formulated in accordance to the recently brought ordinance on political parties, Thakur faction altered the initially-proposed name from Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal (Democratic) to Loktantrik Samajwadi Party in the course of registering the party at the EC Friday.

Leader Jha also revealed that the new party’s proposed Executive Committee was expanded to 31 members, by adding 7 more women members.

Likewise, Sharad Singh Bhandari has also been named a senior leader besides Chairman Thakur and Rajendra Mahato.