KATHMANDU, Dec 16: Manraj Gurung of Tanahun, who recently quit the Communist Party of Nepal, erstwhile CPN (Maoist centre), has been appointed Gandaki Province coordinator of the Kulman Ghising-led Ujyalo Nepal Party.
The party formally assigned Gurung the provincial leadership role on Monday. He had previously served as a member of the Maoist Centre’s Gandaki Province committee.
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Gurung entered active politics following the 2006 People’s Movement through a Maoist-affiliated student union and later held several organizational positions, including chair of the Shuklagandaki Municipality committee and provincial committee secretary.
He announced his departure from the CPN on December 2, citing dissatisfaction with the Maoist Centre’s decision to sideline its planned general convention and leadership transfer in favor of party unification efforts with other forces, including the Madhav Nepal-led Unified Socialist, a move he said would entrench the existing leadership.
Gurung said his decision to join the Ujyalo Nepal Party was also shaped by his long-standing admiration for Kulman Ghising’s working style, dating back to Ghising’s tenure as managing director of the Nepal Electricity Authority. He argued that advocating for oppressed communities should not be limited to parties carrying a communist label, adding that many contemporary communist parties have strayed from their ideological foundations.
