Oli-Prachanda meeting postponed for a day

An informal meeting between Nepal's Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli and the ruling party's executive chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ to sort out their differences was postponed on Wednesday for a day, sources said. The two top leaders, who were earlier scheduled to meet on Wednesday evening, will now hold the informal talks on Thursday morning to resolve the ongoing crisis within the Nepal Communist Party (NCP), sources said.

Sources close to Prachanda said that the meeting was postponed at the request of Prime Minister Oli. The two leaders held marathon meetings on Sunday and Monday but failed to agree on a power-sharing deal.

Oli and Prachanda have held at least ten meetings in recent weeks to sort out the differences between them. But, as the Prime Minister did not accept the condition of a one-man-one-post, the talks failed. Oli has refused to give up his post as prime minister as well as a co-chairman of the NCP. A bitter internal feud has been brewing in the ruling NCP since the last few weeks after top party leaders, including Prachanda, demanded Oli's resignation, saying his recent anti-India remarks were "neither politically correct nor diplomatically appropriate." They are also against Oli's autocratic style of functioning.

The differences grew further after Oli said that some of the ruling party leaders are aligning with the southern neighbour to remove him from power after his government issued a new political map incorporating three Indian territories of Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura. The two leaders are also engaged in tightening their grip within the party with the escalation of intra-party feud.

On July 28, Prime Minister Oli postponed the crucial Standing Committee meeting for the ninth time. While Oli wants to call the Secretariat meeting to resolve the differences, Prachanda says it would be inappropriate to call the Secretariat meeting as the Standing Committee meeting that was put off on July 28 is yet to be over.

Prime Minister Oli wants the Secretariat meeting to resolve the key issues of intra-party dispute as he now commands a majority in the nine-member body after Vice Chairman Gautam stood in his favour. Prachanda, who is backed by senior party leader and former prime minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, believes that the Standing Committee could take decisions favourable to him as their faction commands a comfortable majority, according to reports.