While it may be too early to say that Nepal PM KP Oli’s days are numbered, his combative rival in the party, PK Dahal Prachanda, has made it clear he has had enough of the unilateral manner in which Oli is allegedly working.
Kathmandu: Nepal’s communist Prime Minister KP Oli is facing a revolt from within his party amid acts of him worsening diplomatic relations with India, a media report stated.
While it may be too early to say that Nepal PM K P Oli’s days are numbered, his combative rival in the party, PK Dahal Prachanda, has made it clear he has had enough of the unilateral manner in which Oli is allegedly working.
According to reports from Nepal, Oli is already facing calls for his resignation. India has also closely followed reports that Nepal may have ceded territory to China, but this has been strongly denied by Nepal’s foreign ministry.
The fault lines were out in the open during the communist party standing committee meeting this week when Oli and Prachanda hurled allegations of failing the government and the party against each other. Though worryingly for Oli, his faction is believed to be in a minority in the crucial committee.
India’s reaction to internal developments in the past week or so in Nepal has been limited to reminding Kathmandu that the government has worked to ensure that supplies of essentials to Nepal despite the lockdown have remained unaffected. Recalling that bilateral trade with Nepal surpassed $300 million in May, the government said this week that people of India and Nepal shared deep-rooted and familial bonds which reflected the close civilisational and cultural linkages between the two countries.
According to reports in Nepal media, the communist party standing committee meeting this week saw Oli and Prachanda accusing each other of “failing” the government and party. Kathmandu Post quoted party members to say Prachanda had made a “sensitive revelation” in the meeting about what Oli had been up to apparently to survive as PM.
“We have heard that Pakistani, Afghani or Bangladeshi models are being worked out to remain in power, but such attempts are not going to succeed,” Dahal said on Wednesday, according to the leader quoted by Post.
This development comes at a time when Oli has worsened the nation's relations with India by claiming the latter's territories and issuing a new map of the country. Oli is also facing heat over reports of China annexing a village in the country while also occupying land near the border.
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