KATHMANDU: The Election Commission (EC) is hearing the issue related to the legitimacy claim of the two factions of the Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP) on Thursday.

A five-member bench led by Dinesh Thapaliya is hearing the case over the legitimacy claim of the Thakur-Mahato and Yadav-Bhattarai factions of the JSP, said the EC.

The EC said that it will take a final decision based on the majority of the Central Executive Committee members of the party in case there is no any written evidence to claim the legitimacy.

The JSP has been headed towards split after the Thakur-Mahato faction extended support to the erstwhile Oli-led government.

The decision on the issue of the legitimacy can also be taken based on the majority of the CC members in line with the provision of the Political Parties Act.

The EC has been looking into the legitimacy issue of JSP since last Sunday.