Kathmandu: Nepal’s fractured political parties are rapidly reuniting ahead of the March 5 elections, reversing years of splits driven by leadership disputes and power-sharing conflicts.According to Nepal’s Election Commission, 64 of the country’s 120 election-registered parties are competing under Proportional Representation (PR), with ten forming pre-poll alliances. Of the 142 registered political parties, only 120 were eligible to contest the elections.This week, the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) inked a pact with Balendra Shah, the mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City, to jointly contest the elections – a move that has sent ripples across the political spectrum. Under the seven-point arrangement, Shah has been projected as the party’s prime ministerial candidate while Rabi Lamichhane will continue as the chairperson of the party. Soon after, the Ujyaalo Nepal Party, led by Kul Man Ghising, announced its merger with the RSP. Ghising is widely credited for ending chronic load shedding during his tenure at the Nepal Electricity Authority. Although his party lacks a strong organisational base, his public image is expected to resonate with voters. Currently a cabinet member in Sushila Karki’s government, Ghising only launched his party weeks ago with Anup Kumar Upadhaya as the chairperson.On December 31, two pro-monarchy factions, Rajendra Lingden’s Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) and former foreign minister Kamal Thapa’s Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal (RPP-N) have announced their merger. Both advocate restoring Nepal’s Hindu state and monarchy.The royalist movement gained momentum this year through Kathmandu protests, receiving tacit support from King Gyanendra Shah. However, internal conflicts among monarchist groups under leader Navaraj Subedi prevented the movement from gaining traction. The unified party hopes to consolidate its voter base, particularly under the PR system. Thapa had left the RPP in 2022, accusing the former king of conspiring to defeat him in internal elections by backing Lingden. Lingden’s party held 14 seats in the dissolved House of Representatives, while Thapa had no parliamentary presence. Lingden will remain party president until a post-election unity convention elects new leadership.Madhes-based parties, which emerged as kingmakers after the 2008 Constituent Assembly (CA) elections but suffered repeated fractures, are now pursuing reunification to counter threats from established and emerging parties.Mahantha Thakur and Upendra Yadav, two leading Madhesi politicians representing liberal democratic and left-leaning streams respectively, have merged their Loktantrik Samajbadi Party-Nepal (LSP-N) and Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal (JSP-N). This unification may attract smaller Madhes-based factions.Yadav’s Madhesi Janadhikar Forum became a significant force in the first CA elections, though subsequent splits diminished its influence. Thakur, originally from Nepali Congress (NC), left in 2007 to form the Terai-Madhes Loktantrik Party. Multiple divisions weakened Madhes-based parties, creating openings for NC, Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) (CPN-UML), and Maoist Party. These parties rejected the 2015 constitution, claiming it ignored their demands.The potential Madhesi reunification threatens both new and traditional parties, while prominent Madhesi leaders scattered across different organisations are returning to their original parties.Over a dozen smaller communist parties have joined Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s Nepali Communist Party (NCP), which has staged mass protests in major cities before the elections. NCP and CPN-UML now compete for the same middle-class and working-class voters.NCP also absorbed Ranjita Shrestha’s Nagarik Unmukti Party (NUP), while other minor communist parties seek alignments to improve their electoral prospects. With the PR candidate list deadline passed, parties are finalising first-past-the-post candidates.Further political reshuffling is likely in the coming days. At present, at least five major political blocs appear to be taking shape. These are the NC, the CPN-UML, the NCP, emerging political formations and Madhes-based parties. The push towards consolidation among rival forces is also compelling traditional parties to reassess divisions and explore their own avenues for cooperation.