The Election Commission has registered the Rastriya Mukti Party Nepal, recently formed under the leadership of senior Madhesi leader Rajendra Mahato.

The certificate, bearing the party name, was handed over to Keshav Jha, a central member of the party, on Tuesday.

A key leader of the Loktantriak Samajbadi Party, Mahato, quit the party in February last year and announced that he would form a new party.

Seven months after quitting the Mahantha Thakur-led LSP, Mahato announced his own party in September.

One of the influential leaders in Madhesh province, Mahato, has become a minister multiple times in various coalition governments in the past two decades.

Mahato, who was initially active as a Sadbhabana Party leader, joined the Tarai-Madhesh Loktantrik Party in 2007. He has been in national politics for over two decades as a lawmaker, minister and a key party leader in Madhesh-based parties.

Mahato’s new party has been given a gas cylinder as its election symbol, along with a rectangular, dark blue party flag featuring a bow and arrow at its centre.