Nepal PM Oli meets President amid party revolt & calls to resign; Budget session prorogued

In quick-fire developments amid Nepal's bid to change the country's map by showing parts of India as their own territory, and political tussle amid Nepalese parties wherein the current PM has peddled anti-India rhetoric, KP Sharma Oli has reached the residence of Nepal President Bidhya Devi Bhandari. Oli on Thursday is also expected to address the nation amid speculation that his party's senior leadership has sought his resignation.

This comes at a time that the Nepal government has decided to prorogue (discontinue without dissolving) the ongoing Budget Session of its Parliament. It has said that the decision was taken at cabinet meeting held at Oli's official residence in Baluwatar.

As per sources, Oli has been advised by his aides in Nepal Communist Party (NCP) to reach out to the rival faction in an attempt to win their confidence. He had also held a meeting on Wednesday evening with his key confidants, including Cabinet ministers. Sources added that Oli was asked by Nepal Communist Party (NCP) Standing Committee members to resign from both the posts of the Prime Minister and party co-chair.

This comes days after both houses of Nepal Parliament passed a Constitutional amendment for a new map which includes India's Kalapani, Lipulekh, and Limpiyadhura as their territory. While India has said that its friendship with Nepal continues and it has been providing assistance to Nepal amid COVID-19, MEA has also conveyed its opposition to the move calling it a 'unilateral act'. 

READ | Traders in Bengal's Panitanki stop busines with Nepal for claiming Indian areas as its own

Meanwhile, on July 1, Oli, was taken to Sahid Gangalal National Heart Center in Kathmandu after he complained of chest pain, according to ANI. Later, his press Advisor Surya Thapa said that Oli had returned from Sahid Gangalal National Heart Center in Kathmandu after a check-up. 

READ | Nepal PM KP Oli hospitalised after complaining of chest pains; discharged after check-up

Rival rubbishes Indian involvement in Oli's turmoil

Last week, Nepal Communist Party leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda along with his party colleagues Madhav Nepal, Jhala Nath Khanal, and Bamdev Gautam officially demanded his resignation at the standing committee meeting of the Nepal Communist Party. Oli's resignation was sought on his alleged failures on a range of issues. Prachanda asserted that it is not India but he himself who is seeking Oli's resignation, rubbishing Oli's claims that India was hatching a conspiracy to dislodge him.

There has been infighting in the party ranks over the leadership of Nepal Communist Party and the government, over Oli's unilateral style of functioning and his backing the Mahakali treaty signed with India in 1996. Oli, who has often blamed India for its border issues and the ongoing Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, accused India of trying to hatch a conspiracy to destabilise his government. Alleging that meetings were being organized in hotels in India to topple his government, Oli had exuded confidence that these plots would fail.

READ |  'Nepal PM Oli hid India's offer to talk on border issues prior to map amendment': Sources

Nepal's new map includes Indian territory

Nepalese Parliament has passed a Constitutional amendment for a new map which includes Kalapani, Lipulekh, and Limpiyadhura and the updated map will now be accommodated in the national emblem. As per reports, Nepal's new map has been drawn on the basis of the Sugauli Treaty of 1816 signed between Nepal and the then-British Indian government and other relevant documents. India has called this move 'unilateral' and alleged that India had reached out to Nepal before the passage of the bill seeking talks on border issues, which were ignored by Oli - who went ahead with the amendment, without informing the citizens on India's offer.

READ | Nepal records 475 new coronavirus cases, tally crosses 13,000-mark