During Jana Andolan II there were seven communist parties. These have split and divided variously, and there are now 12 communist parties in Nepal. Except for the UML, the Maoists and the Nepal Workers' and Peasants' Party (Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party), all the others have divided since parliament was reinstated.

Outdoing all the others when it comes to divisiveness is CPN (Unified). This party has split three times, under the leadership of Mohan Bikram Singh, Prakash, and Rajbir, though it retained the same name, and also under Bijay Kumar as CPN 2006. Jana Morcha Nepal has also broken up into three different parties. Other such parties include the CPN (ML) under CP Mainali and Rishi Kattel, and the CPN (Marxist-Leninist-Maoist) under Krishna Das Shrestha and Sitaram Tamang. Also on the verge of division is the CPN (Unified Marxists) led by Prabhu Narayan Chaudhary, a minister in the reinstated parliament.

Longtime communist leader Krishna Das Shrestha says it has become second nature for communist party leaders to divide parties based on minor differences. Nepal's communist party, established in 1949, first split in two in 1962. In 1973, these two divided into over a dozen parties. While some have faded away, others have united, though the latter is the weaker trend.

Founding member Nara Bahadur Karmacharya says personal jealousy and hunger for power motivate the splits more often than differences in principles. He argues that of the numerous divisions, only two were grounded in principle: that between Kesar Jung Rayamajhi and Puspa Lal Shrestha in 1962, and between the CPN (Unified) and the Maoists in 1995.

NK Dahal

Read more