Amid open discord, Nepal's ruling communist party launches signature campaign to save face

To shut down rumours surrounding the chaos within the Nepal Communist Party (NCP), its leaders on Sunday launched a signature collection campaign to demonstrate their 'unity.' Around 63 MLAs from the NCP, which has been witnessing speculations of a split, following tensions between factions of PM Oli and Chairman Prachanda launched the campaign in a bid to collect signatures of 90 MPs from the ruling party.

One of the signatories to the campaign, Ram Kumari Jhakri, spoke to news agency ANI regarding the campaign saying, "While setting up this small group, the first criteria we set was not to include any of sitting ministers and the Standing Committee meeting which is going on, members of the committee also would not be entertained."

"We did so because they have to express their opinion during the Standing Committee Meeting and our group also have some Code of Conducts too, in order to facilitate them during their presentation we thought of keeping them away from it," Kumari Jhakri said to news agency ANI.

Read: India Gifts 10 Ventilators Worth Rs 28 Million To Nepal To Help Its Fight Against COVID-19

Read: Nepal To Send India Its 'updated Map' With Kalapani, Lipulekh, Limpiyadhura

"In order to split a party or unify it, a leader's power is tested on parliament. As they ( NCP leaders) would provide their signatures for the campaign, a clear message will be sent that Parliamentary Committee is against the split, making them go ahead discussing agendas following the legal system," claimed Jhakri.

Factionalism grows within the NCP

The factionalism in the Nepal Communist Party only seems to have worsened in the recent times, with senior party leaders demanding the resignation of KP Oli as the Prime Minister over his recent decisions, as well as his handling of the COVID-19 crisis in the Himalayan nation. 

Oli was also under fire for his 'anti-India' remarks and his sham new political map wirth top NCP leaders, including former prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda, demanding his resignation, saying that his statements were 'neither politically correct nor diplomatically appropriate.'

In order to escape any form of criticism, Oli kept postponing the Central Standing Committee meeting which commenced from June 24 to avert criticisms landing on him. Though the duo chairs of the party have held multiple rounds of discussions, no concrete decision has been made till now on the matter. 

The differences between the two factions of the NCP -- one led by Oli and the other led by Chairman Dahal 'Prachanda' -- intensified after Oli unilaterally decided to prorogue the budget session of Parliament. Both Prime Minister Oli and former Prime Minister Prachanda are chairmen of the ruling party.

Read: Nepal Resumes Airing All Indian News Channels After Ban For 'hurting Country's Sentiments'

Read: Nepal PM Oli Pushing For Ordinance To Stay In Office, opposed Party-mates Meet President