Amid crisis & China's meddling, Nepal's former PM Prachanda in Mumbai for wife's treatment

Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda', former Nepal Prime Minister and chairman of a rival faction of the ruling Nepal Communist Party, will arrive in Mumbai on Monday for the treatment of his ailing wife Sita Dahal. According to ANI sources in the Indian mission, the Dahal couple would fly to Mumbai on Monday for treatment as the former First Lady has been combating Progressive Supranuclear Palsy for several years.

Former Nepal PM to arrive in Mumbai

"They will fly to Mumbai for treatment. All arrangements have been made on an urgent basis," the source confirmed without further details. Another leader from the rival faction of the ruling party as well as the Central Committee member of Dahal-Nepal faction further confirmed that Prachanda has informed the party members about his urgent visit to India.

"Chairman Dahal informed today's (Sunday) Central Committee meeting that he is flying to Mumbai, India along with his spouse Sita Dahal for the purpose of medical treatment," Beduram Bhusal, a Central Committee Member confirmed. Sita Dahal is undergoing treatment at Mediciti Hospital in Lalitpur District. She has also undergone treatment at Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Hospital in 2019 along with other hospitals in India and Singapore.

Dahal, Nepal in bid to rope in other parties

Meanwhile, the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) faction led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Madhav Kumar Nepal on Sunday held its Standing Committee meeting and decided to coordinate with all the political parties to explore the possibility of a joint protest against the dissolution of the House of Representatives.

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According to The Himalayan Times, Standing Committee member Lilamani Pokharel said the meeting discussed ways to make the party’s protest against the dissolution of the HoR effective by mobilising all party units. He said Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli was planning to prolong his stay at the helm by imposing emergency in the country and his party wanted to foil his move. 

Pokharel said his party wanted to launch a joint protest with the NC and Janata Samajwadi Party-Nepal, but the NC was confused as it wanted to prepare for election thinking they would be held on the stipulated dates.

Nepal plunged into a political crisis on December 20 after Oli, known for his pro-Beijing leanings, in a surprise move, recommended dissolving the 275-member House, amidst a tussle for power with Prachanda. Acting on the prime minister's recommendation, President Bidya Devi Bhandari dissolved the House the same day and announced fresh elections on April 30 and May 10, sparking protests from a large section of the NCP led by Prachanda, also a co-chair of the ruling party. Just days earlier, a top Chinese official who was dispatched by the Communist Party of China (CPC) to Nepal in an attempt to resolve the discord in the NCP returned to Beijing empty-handed. 

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(With agency inputs)