Madhav Nepal joins Oli-Dahal in Baluwatar talks on Thursday

KATHMANDU: Senior leader of Nepal Communist Party (NCP) Madhav Nepal joined Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and Co-chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal to further their discussions in an attempt to settle party disputes. The meeting is being held at the PM's residence in Baluwatar, today.

General Secretary of NCP (NCP) Bishnu Poudel is also participating in the discussion.

The two party chairs have met for several rounds of talks looking to settle the current stalemate within the party, but to no avail.

According to a source, six leaders from the party Secretariat had met prior to the top-leadership's meeting today.

Earlier this month, Ambassador of China to Nepal Hou Yanqi met with Madhav Kumar Nepal, which looked 'unusual and untimely' and sparked concerns across the country. Yanqi also reached out to another NCP leader Jhala Nath Khanal that fueled speculation regarding China’s ‘interests’ in internal matters of the ruling party.

Later, it was learnt that Yanqi had visited former PM and NCP (NCP) co-chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal, along with many other senior leaders in the party.

In June, Dahal and Nepal, along with standing committee members had asked Oli to quit one of the two posts that he holds – prime minister and the party chair -- which the PM blatantly refused.

Threat of a possible split loomed large as the government decided to prorogue house session while rumours of re-introduction of the party-split bill started getting rife.