KATHMANDU: The Election Commission (EC) has received two petitions urging it not to register journo-turned politician Ravi Lamichhane’s Rastriya Swotantra Party.

Lamichhane applied for party registration on Tuesday.

The day after he filed the petition, the two groups went to EC’s Kantipath-based office and requested it not to register the party with the term ‘Swotantra’.

The petitioners argued that the use of the term ‘swotantra’ or independent in the party’s name confuses the voters and the identity of the candidates willing to contest as independent candidates also fall into crisis.

According to EC spokesperson Shaligram Sharma Poudel, EC received one petition each from Dambar Sahu, the coordinator of the Independent Candidacy Campaign, and a group led by Manoj Pandit and Puskar Shah.

‘There have been two petitions. The commission will move ahead with the process by keeping the party registration application and these applications together, ‘ spokesperson Poudel said.

There is a legal provision that the Commission must make a decision within 45 days of the application for party registration.