KATHMANDU: CPN Maoist Centre Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal claimed that Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli himself wanted to severe ties with the Maoist party, and let the coalition government collapse.

The top Maoist leader, who aspires to become new prime minister, revealed that Oli had symbolically told him to pull out of the government or he would purge the Maoist ministers.

"Once the Prime Minister invited me and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur. He told me to take action myself or he would take action against the Maoist ministers," he said at the Parliament while presenting the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Oli. This was symbolic but serious, he added.

Oli's action would be purging the Maoist ministers from the Cabinet, according to Dahal.

Dahal, who defected from the ruling coalition to join forces with the main opposition Nepali Congress in a bid to pull down the Oli-led government, came down heavily upon the Prime Minister. He dubbed the latter of being ego-centric and self-centric, and functioning arbitrarily.

"Maybe now he (Prime Minsiter Oli)  has realised that only making speech cannot help lead the country," he sarcastically said, "Railway, gas, pipeline... everything he talked about..."

"Maybe Prime Minister Oli himself wanted the government to go now. I think he is already tired."

Holding Prime Minister Oli responsible for his party, a former ally in the Oli-led government, withdrawing the support and bringing in no-confidence motion, Dahal, who wants to lead the new government, said, "Otherwise, I did not want to break this [UML-Maoist] alliance."

"Sometimes I feel we were pushed to choose the new path," Dahal added, "I wish for discussion and dialogue along for unity and prevention of confrontation."

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