The CPN (Maoist Centre), which had earlier decided to contest elections alone, has now opted to partner with like-minded political parties other than the Nepali Congress and CPN-UML in the upcoming byelections slated for December 1.

Issuing a circular on Monday, party chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and general secretary Dev Gurung informed the lower committees that the party has opened the door for forging electoral alliance with “progressive” and leftist parties except the Congress and the UML.

On the byelections announced for December 1, the party will contest alone as far as possible and, if not, it will look to ally with “progressive” and leftist parties, the circular says.

The Election Commission has already started the party registration process for the December by elections. As of Sunday, 25 political parties have registered with the commission, according to a statement issued by the commission.

Previously, the Maoist Centre had decided to contest elections single-handedly. The two ruling parties Congress and UML, which are also the largest parties in Parliament, have already announced that they would not forge alliances for future elections and contest on their own strength.

The Congress made this decision during the party’s Mahasamiti meeting as well as the central working committee. Likewise, a recent politburo meeting of the UML decided to contest the elections alone.

The Maoist Centre circular is addressed to the party’s in-charges, district chairs and heads of provincial committees.

For byelection preparations, the candidate selection for the vacant ward chair positions will be conducted through the gathering of the party’s registered ward members. The party will prioritise consensus in the selection, but if consensus cannot be reached, the candidates will be selected based on a majority vote and recommended to the municipality committee, where the final decision will be made by consensus.

The Mahasamiti meeting of the Congress in February decided to contest the federal and provincial elections in 2027 single-handedly. Several top UML leaders, including party chair KP Sharma Oli and others, have also vowed to contest the elections alone.

The Maoist Centre contested local, provincial, and federal elections in alliances with the UML in 2017 and the Congress in 2022. Since 2015, the Maoist Centre was continuously in power for nine years, partnering with the Congress or the UML.

Maoist Centre chief Dahal was recently ousted from the prime ministership by Oli, who was appointed prime minister on July 14. The Maoist party was sidelined by the UML and the Congress after a series of political events.

“We never declared our intent to contest elections alone but have opened the door for like-minded political parties to contest elections jointly,” a Maoist central committee member said. “Our maximum effort would be to contest elections single-handedly.”

An office bearers meeting of the Maoist Centre, in July, concluded that the party would contest the upcoming elections on its own strength and also decided to rebuild the party and its organizations to make it enable to challenge the two largest parties.

The opening of the door for alliances is also directed at joining hands with the parties under the umbrella of the Socialist Front, the Maoist leader said.

“Most probably, we will forge such alliances with the parties that are associated with the front.”

Besides the Maoist Centre, the front includes CPN (Unified Socialist), the Nepal Communist Party led by Netra Bikram Chand ‘Biplav’, and the Nepal Socialist Party headed by Mahindra Raya Yadav.

As per the election schedule, the nomination of candidates will take place on November 17 from 10 am to 5 pm at the office of the electoral officer.

A preliminary list of candidates will be published from 5 to 6 pm on the same day. Any objections or complaints against the listed candidates can be lodged on November 18, between 10 am and 3 pm. The verification and decision on the nominations and complaints will be carried out on November 18 and 19, and the final list of candidates will be published by 6 pm on November 19.

Likewise, candidates can withdraw their nominations on November 20, between 9 am and 1 pm. The final list of candidates will be published from 1 to 3 pm the same day, followed by the allocation of election symbols between 3 and 5 pm.

Voting will take place on December 1, from 7 am to 5 pm, at designated polling stations, according to the Election Commission.

The electoral body has also announced a 48-hour silence period, starting from midnight on November 28, during which election campaigning will be prohibited.

The election authority had earlier announced that there are 41 vacant positions, including two district coordination committee chiefs, two chairs, four vice-chairs, and 10 ward chairs of rural municipalities, as well as one mayor, one deputy mayor, and 21 ward chairs of municipalities.

Previously, the commission conducted by-elections for the House of Representatives in Bara-2, Chitwan-2, and Tanahun-1 on April 23, 2023, and for Ilam Constituency-2 on April 27, 2024. The provincial assembly election in Bajhang (A) was also held on April 27.