NCP central secretariat endorses panel formed to resolve intra-party rift

The ruling Nepal Communist Party's powerful Central Secretariat on Monday endorsed a six-member task force formed by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and party's executive chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' to resolve the ongoing intra-party rift.

The two leaders on Friday formed the task force led by the party's General Secretary Bishnu Paudel. The panel includes Standing Committee members Shankar Pokhrel, Janardan Sharma, Bhim Rawal, Surendra Pandey and Pampha Bhusal.

The taskforce will recommend ways to sort out the differences in the party after Prachanda and senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal demanded Prime Minister Oli's resignation.

Ganesh Shah, senior leader and Standing Committee member of the party, said the task force will try to minimize differences between Prime Minister Oli and the dissident group led by Prachanda.

"We hope that the ongoing intra-party dispute will be resolved in an amicable manner with the formation of the task force," Shah said.

"The task force will do its homework on resolving the intra-party differences, maintaining the party unity and conducting the General Convention and thereby present a report," said NCP spokesperson Narayankaji Shrestha.

The decision to form the task force was taken after a meeting between Oli and Prachanda on Friday.

Oli during a television interview on Wednesday said that the ongoing intra-party tussle will be settled within five days.

Oli and Prachanda have held about a dozen meetings 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 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 the intra-party feud.