Nepal PM Oli may resign today as Prachand meets President

Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli may resign today as calls for his resignation grew louder in the ruling party. The Standing Committee's 31 out of a total of 44 members have stood against Oli.

Kathmandu: After Nepal's Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli met President Bidya Devi Bhandari, the ruling party's co-chairperson Pushpa Kamal Dahal also visited the latter.

After Oli said that meetings are being held in New Delhi to topple his government, the ruling Nepal Communist Party leaders have criticised him and asked him to step down.

Oli is likely to address the nation on Thursday as calls for his resignation grew louder.

"The prime minister might address the nation today. Time is yet to be fixed but the preparation is being made. It will be decided on after the Cabinet meeting this noon," sources from the prime minister's Secretariat said.

Earlier in the day, Bidhya Devi Bhandari approved the Cabinet's proposal to prorogue the ongoing parliamentary session and sent a letter to the Parliament Secretariat acknowledging the same.

Pushpa Kamal Dahal faction in the ruling Nepal Communist Party has upped the ante against Oli.

The Dahal faction on Wednesday held a meeting in Jhamsikhel, which party leaders said was part of a bigger plan to chart out a strategy against Oli, Kathmandu Post reported.

Read |Nepal PM Oli holds cabinet meeting after ruling party leaders call for his 'resignation'

This is the first time that 31 out of a total of 44 Standing Committee members have stood against Oli.

The senior leaders, including co-chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Madhav Nepal, Jhalanath Khanal and Bamdev Gautam, asked the Prime Minister to step down from the post citing his 'failure' over various issues.

Read |Nepal's ruling party leaders demand PM Oli's resignation

According to the Himalayan Times, the Standing Committee meeting of NCP held on Tuesday got heated up as Oli's recent controversial statements on India, among other things, was put on the table for discussion.

Khanal said that the Prime Minister promoted factional interests in the party and worked only to fulfill his interests.

He said that Oli failed to bring sound policies and programmes and followed capitalist policies in the past three years, ignoring the goals of socialism that his party was committed to.

With inputs from agencies