2 July 2020, Kathmandu
The Standing Committee (SC) meeting of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) is taking place at 11 am today.
The meeting which sat for an hour at the Prime Minister’s official residence in Baluwatar on Wednesday was postponed after five members of the Standing Committee expressed their views.
Sources said the five members, including Leela Mani Pokhrel and Matrika Yadav also sought PM KP Oli’s resignation.
The meeting is taking place at a time when the NCP is caught in a quagmire following serious differences among the top brass, particularly between Prime Minister KP Oli, NCP Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal-led camp.
PM Oli has been facing hard time as most of the influential members, besides seeking his resignation, asked him to elucidate his earlier remarks against India, which the party leaders claimed ‘damaged’ NCP’s image.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday morning, Prime Minister Oli held a political consultation with his cabinet ministers and copper-bottomed Standing Committee members of the party.
Standing Committee members and ministers close to PM Oli Wednesday morning suggested him not to be deterred from the recent developments and the criticism.
A leader close to PM Oli said that the Prime Minister said he has been attacked from all sides, including his party leaders, which he claimed will set a wrong precedent if he stepped down coming under pressure.
Intra-party feuds have resurfaced in the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) after Chairman and Prime Minister Oli vehemently accused India of trying to topple his government.
During Tuesday’s meeting, party leaders, including Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, senior leaders Nepal and Jhalanath Khanal univocally said that they sought PM Oli’s resignation, not the southern neighbor.
“Your resignation was not sought by India, I have asked for it. You cannot rebuff the party’s rules and regulations,” said a standing committee member quoting the top-notch leaders telling the prime minister.
Sources said that Prachanda and PM Oli were engaged in a heated discussion on Tuesday.
Prachanda had then told the meeting that everyone should understand that the task of retaining or removing the Prime Minister would be done from within the party.
Prachanda even accused Oli of tarnishing the party’s image by speaking out against India.
“You have tarnished the image of the party by speaking against India. International relations cannot be balanced by fighting with India,” sources quoted Prachanda as saying.
In response, Prime Minister Oli questioned how exactly what was said at the party meeting was carried out by Indian media, sources said.
Prime Minister Oli, had last week, blamed India for trying to topple his government and that ploys were being hatched against him.
Meanwhile, last week, PM Oli had said it would be a day-dream to even think of ousting him simply because he took a bold step to issue a revised map that angered India.
