Cracks in Nepal's ruling party as PM Oli & party chief trade barbs amid anti-India map

Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is facing the anger of its citizens for its handling of the Coronavirus pandemic and also for its "weak" foreign policy after the country decided to incorporate Indian territories into its new political map, thus, weakening the country's age-old relations with India. 

Now, reports suggest that all is not well withing the ruling party as well after Executive Chairperson of the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) Pushpa Kamal Dahal lambasted the government for its lacklustre performance during the party's Standing Committee meeting which began earlier on Wednesday.

'One has to be objective while...'

According to a report in 'My Republica', in his speech at the meeting, Dahal said that the government has failed to live up to the people's expectations in this difficult situation. He also accused KP Sharma Oli of violating the "understanding" reached at the party's top level in terms of power-sharing on rotational basis.

Oli defended the government and said that his administration is doing its best to serve the national interests. He also said that the ruling party leaders themselves are acting as the opposition party leaders.

"The government has been doing its best to contain the COVID-19 pandemic while expediting development works across the country. One has to be objective while criticizing the government," Oli said. Oli also said that the government is working to safeguard the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity. "We recently issued a new political and administrative map of the country. This was a historic task," Oli said.

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'You should not feel that...' 

Another report said that during the meeting, both Prime Minister K P Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ traded barbs. The meeting of the powerful 45-member body that was cancelled twice in the past, finally took place Wednesday, after mounting pressure and accusations that Oli had hijacked the party and the government and was running it in an authoritarian way.

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Speaking at the beginning of the meeting — which will continue on Friday — Oli said even his good work, his efforts to establish socialism in the country and his strong commitment towards nationalism were not being defended by the party’s leaders. “By humiliating me, you should not feel that your stature has gone up,” he told Prachanda. 

Earlier, Nepal has blamed India for the rise of novel coronavirus cases in the country, with the country's PM KP Sharma Oli saying the virus strain from India looked "more lethal" than those from China and Italy. 

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Nepal’s National Assembly on Thursday unanimously passed the Constitution Amendment Bill to update the country's political and administrative map incorporating three Indian territories. India has termed as untenable the "artificial enlargement" of territorial claims by Nepal after its lower house of parliament on Saturday unanimously approved the new political map of the country featuring areas which India maintains belong to it.

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(With PTI inputs)