KATHMANDU, MARCH 17

National cadres meet of the Nepal-Khanal faction of CPN-UML is presently ongoing in Lalitpur.

The two-day gathering of leaders and cadres close to senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal is taking place at Heritage Garden in Sanepa.

Along with UML leaders from across the country, participation of the party's senior leaders has also been witnessed today.

According to a leader close to the group, the participants in today's meeting will be divided into ten groups in which they will discuss relevant political issues concerning the party, conclusions from which will further be explored by the group tomorrow.

In response to the group organising the national meet, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli had said that he would take action against leaders of the Nepal-Khanal faction if they proceeded with the gathering scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.

However, Madhav Nepal led group was not deterred by the PM's threat and said they wouldn't change their plans; they decided to hold the meeting as planned.

Furthermore, UML leader belonging to the Nepal faction, former Tourism Minister Yogesh Bhattarai, in response to the Prime Minister's warning, asked him to chair the national gathering. He further remarked that everyone was welcome in the meet and there was no need for the Prime Minister to keep an eye on anyone.

Meanwhile, the Nepal-Khanal faction had boycotted a tea reception hosted by PM Oli on Tuesday. They orgainsed a press meet on the same day to formally announce the two-day national gathering wherein they said that the Prime Minister led faction must withdraw its March 12 decisions if it wanted to keep the party unity intact.

On that day, Prime Minister Oli called a special meeting of the party's central committee, unilaterally amended the party statute, and divested leaders of the Nepal-Khanal faction of key responsibilities.