KATHMANDU: Deputy Prime Minister Ishwar Pokhrel has accused party leaders Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Madhav Kumar Nepal of being responsible for the division in ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP).

"The party reached the point of splitting up after they manoeuvred to remove KP Sharma Oli from the post of Prime Minister and party chair," DPM Pokhrel, who is an NCP leader close to PM Oli, said during a meeting of active cadres of the party.

DPM Pokhrel also argued, “Leader Dahal has been continuously violating the agreement since last elections. The party lost a lot of votes as he denied using the same election symbol.”

He further claimed that his side of NCP was always for unity and warned that anyone trying to weaken the party unity would be responded to accordingly.

According to DPM Pokhrel, the Dahal-Nepal faction was nervous due to the positive activities of the Prime Minister. He hailed PM Oli’s moves and his stand for nationality and sovereignty during the blockade, trade and transit agreement with China, and issuance of Nepal’s political map by incorporating the territories of Kalapani region.

On the occasion, PM’s chief political advisor Bishnu Rimal further claimed that Dahal-Nepal group was moving ahead with the strategy of capturing party and state authority, which he said, resulted in dissolution of the House of Representatives. Government faced more hurdles by problems within the party than by the opposition, he stated.