The CPN-M was formed following a split in the unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), and has used the name CPN-Maoist. On 19 June 2012, a dissident group around Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) (UCPN-M) vice-president Mohan Baidya (alias Kiran) announced the formation of a new party: Communist Party of Nepal - Maoist or Nepal Communist Party (Maoist) or CPN-M. Baidya said the UCPN-M was destroying the achievement of the "People's War" and he announced a vertical split.
The party is registered as SN 6 with the Election Commission of Nepal and has as election symbol the "Hammer and Sickle inside a circle". The announcement of the split from the UCPN-M and formation of the new outfit came at the end of the three-day national gathering of the followers in Kathmandu.
The dissident faction decided to split as they thought it's not fit to be associated with the mother party which is filled with opportunists.
