KATHMANDU: CPN-UML Nuwakot leader Madhav Prasad Pandey has defected to the Maoist Center.

Maoist Center Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ welcomed new entrant Pandey at a program held at the Maoist Center party office in Parisdanda on Friday.

According to the Maoist Center, as many as 100 UML cadres joined the Maoist Center under Pandey’s leadership.

Welcoming Pandey, Prachanda said, “I heard that UML Chair KP Oli has reached Nuwakot. It is pleasant coincidence that UML leaders and cadres joined the Maoists under Pandey’s leadership on the same day.”

Pandey is a permanent resident of Belkotgadhi Muncipality-13, Nuwakot. Earlier, he had aspired to stake claim for the post of mayor of Belkotgadhi Municipality from the UML.

Similarly, the Maoists claimed that hundreds of cadres from Madhes Province joined the party under Sanjeev Kumar Sah’s leadership. Likewise, it is said many others have defected to the party from UML and Nepali Congress.