KATHMANDU: As two of his deputies staked a claim over the position of second man, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who is scheduled to embark on an official visit to China, failed to hold the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday. DPM Kamal Thapa of Rastriya Prajantantra Party and DPM Bimalendra Nidhi of Nepali Congress both have been claiming to be next to the Prime Minister in the 45-person Cabinet, giving Dahal a hard time to choose the Acting Prime Minister. A source at the PM's Secretariat hinted that the Prime Minister Dahal, who is caught between two fires, will use his personal discretion to designate one of the three DPMs -- Thapa, Nidhi and Krishna Bahadur Mahara -- the Acting Prime Minister before leaving Kathmandu for a week,  without holding the Cabinet meeting. The source claimed that the visit does not need endorsement from the Cabinet as no bilateral agreements will be made with China during Dahal's visit. Thapa was recently inducted to the Council of Ministers as third Deputy Prime Minister, while Nidhi leads the Nepali Congress in the coalition government since Dahal expanded his Cabinet in August. Prime Minister Dahal held separate meetings with Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba and DPM Thapa in a bid to settle the dispute. Reminding Dahal of the agreement that he forged with Deuba while building the Nepali Congress-Maoist alliance to topple the KP Sharma Oli-led government and forming the incumbent coalition, Nidhi has been threatening to quit the government if he is not considered numero uno among the DPMs. Some media reports claimed Dahal acknowledged Thapa as the seniormost DPM and was in a mood to designate him Acting PM. But the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers' official website shows Nidhi, Mahara and Thapa respectively in second, third and fourth position, nex As per the agreement, Nepali Congress and CPN Maoist Centre had reportedly agreed to give senior-most DPM to another party in the coalition government that one between Deuba or Dahal would lead. Nidhi has argued that he has borne the role of Acting Prime Minister in the past also and was next to the PM in the Cabinet though Mahara of CPN Maoist Centre was appointed DPM prior to him. Thapa, on the other hand, expects the Prime Minister to return him a favour --with an acknowledgement as the second man -- for joining the Cabinet to ensure the Dahal-led coalition government a majority at the time Madhesi parties were on the verge of withdrawing their support. READ ALSO:

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Council of Ministers Portfolio Prime Minister 1.   Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prime Minister DPMs 2.   Bimalendra Nidhi Home Affairs 3.   Krishna Bahadur Mahara Finance 4.   Kamal Thapa Federal Affairs and Local Development Ministers 5.   Arjun Narsingh K.C. Urban Development 6.   Ramesh Lekhak Physical Infrastructure and Transportation 7.   Janardan Sharma Energy 8.   Prem Bahadur Singh Science and Technology 9. Dr. Prakash Sharan Mahat Foreign Affairs 10.   Bal Krishna Khand Defense 11.   Deepak Bohara Supplies 12.   Suryaman Gurung Labor and Employment 13.   Gauri Shankar Chaudhari Agricultural Development 14.   Daljit Shrepaili Youth and Sports 15.   Bikram Panday Land Reform and Management 16.   Jayadev Joshi Population and Environment 17.   Surendra Kumar Karki Information and Communication 18.   Dhaniram Paudel Education 19.   Ajaya Shankar Nayak Law, Justice, & Parliamentary Affairs 20.   Keshab Kumar Budhathoki General Administration 21.   Romi Gauchan Thakali Commerce 22.  Sitadevi Yadav Peace and Reconstruction 23.   Jeevan Bahadur Shahi Water Supply and Sanitation 24.   Deepak Giri Irrigation 25.   Nabindra Raj Joshi Industry 26.   Shankar Bhandari Forest and Soil Conservation 27.   Gagan Kumar Thapa Health 28.   Hridaya Ram Thani Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation 29.   Kumar Khadka Women, Children and Social Welfare Development; 30.   Dilnath Giri Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation  State Ministers 31.   Shreprasad Jawegu Livestock Development 32.   Satya Narayan Bhagat Energy 33.  Radhika Tamang Agricultural Development 34.  Dhanamaya BK.(Khanal) Education 35.   Dirgha Raj Bhat Forest and Soil Conservation 36.   Sitaram Mahato Physical Infrastructure and Transportation 37.   Taraman Gurung Health 38.   Surendra Raj Acharya Irrigation 39.   Subarna Jwarachan Commerce 40.   Indra Bahadur Baniya Home Affairs 41.   Dilip Khawas Gachchhadar Labour and Employment 42.   Dipak Khadka Water Supply and Sanitation 43.   Kanchan Chandra Bade Industry 44.   Mithu Malla Urban Development 45.   Parsu Ram Tamang Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation