Oli-Prachanda meet to resolve their differences

The two leaders one-on-one meeting at the Prime Minister’s residence at Baluwatar in Kathmandu. This was their first meeting after a week.

Nepal’s Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli and the ruling party’s executive chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ met again on Thursday to sort out their differences and resolve the intra-party rift, with the sources here expecting a breakthrough soon.

Nepal’s Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli(Twitter)

The two leaders one-on-one meeting at the Prime Minister’s residence at Baluwatar in Kathmandu. This was their first meeting after a week.

The details of the meeting have not been disclosed. The sources close to the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) said the talk ended on a positive note. Sources said as Prime Minister Oli agreed to hand over the total command of the party to Prachanda during the meeting, an agreement could be closer.

The leaders are expected to meet on Friday too.

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