Kathmandu,  Aug 5:  The dissident faction of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) has decided to put pressure on the party to reverse decisions made by party chairperson Rajendra Lingden.

A meeting held by the dissatisfied group at Hattisar decided to collectively oppose those decisions during upcoming meetings of the executive and central committees.

A leader present at the meeting said, “The chairperson has been making unlawful decisions. We have agreed to strongly demand the cancellation of such decisions in the executive and central committees.”

RPP is preparing to call its central committee meeting in the second week of Bhadra (late August). According to a participant in the meeting, the dissident faction has decided to instruct central members outside the establishment camp to attend the meeting and raise their voice for justice.

Tensions between the two factions escalated after Chairperson Lingden appointed Roshan Karki as coordinator of the party’s disciplinary committee.

Lingden had nominated Karki, a close ally and sitting lawmaker, replacing Nabaraj Subedi. The establishment faction claimed Subedi had announced he was quitting the party and thus the responsibility was handed over to someone else. There's also a dispute between the two sides over the removal of party spokesperson Sagun Lawati. The matter has even reached the Election Commission.

On 13 July, the dissident faction submitted a petition to the Election Commission seeking to annul Lingden’s decisions. The Commission has written to the party asking for clarification regarding the dismissal.

Chairperson Lingden also removed Vice Chairperson Mukund Shyam Giri from his post after Giri signed a statement demanding the reversal of the chairperson's decision.

While dissatisfaction within the party was already growing, tensions further deepened last week after observers were appointed for local conventions. The dissident faction rejected the appointments, calling them unilateral and invalid.

Monday’s meeting was coordinated by senior vice chairperson Bikram Pandey and General Secretary Dr. Dhawal Shamsher Rana. Others who attended included Pandey, Dr. Rana, the removed Vice Chairperson Mukund Shyam Giri, General Secretary Kunti Shahi, and three assistant general secretaries: Prem Balayar, Rishiraj Devkota, and Saurendra Bahadur Shah.

Also present were Bagmati province chair Bikram Bahadur Thapa, Karnali province chair Deep Bahadur Shahi, central committee member and former minister Jagat Gauchan, spokesperson Sagun Sundar Lawati (who was removed by Lingden), deputy general secretary Rabindra Pratap Shah, assistant spokesperson Prabin Kumar Thokar Tamang, and over 70 others, according to the dissident faction.

The dissident faction had previously met in the last week of Ashar. Right after Lingden replaced the disciplinary committee coordinator and removed spokesperson Lawati on 9 July, the group decided to move the Election Commission against the chairperson’s decision.