Sources close to the two top leaders said there has been an understanding between them to field Deuba for prime minister if he can convince the party that he can garner adquate support, and field President Koirala himself for the post if the three major parties - Maoist, NC and the UML - choose a rotational prime ministerial system.[break]
But in case neither of the two situations arise, the leaders have agreed to field parliamentary party leader Ram Chandra Paudel for prime minsiter as per the statutory provision of party.
During a meeting with Koirala at the latter´s residence in Maharajgunj on Monday morning, Deuba asked Koirala to support his candidacy if he is able to convince the party that he can garner majority support in parliament, according to leaders close to Deuba. President Koirala agreed to the proposal.
While Deuba has been active lately to garner support in the party for his candidacy, NC parliamentary party leader Paudel had reached Deuba residence on Monday seeking Deuba´s support for his own candidacy.
Deuba, however, turned down the request saying that the party should look for an alternative candidate now as Paudel failed to secure adequate majority votes in the parliament even after 16 rounds of voting.
In a separate meeting with the party´s youth leaders in the afternoon, President Koirala said the party could look for an alternative candidate if Paudel´s chances of winning majority votes appeard slim and another candidate from the party had higher chancs of winning.
A group of NC youth leaders including Chandra Bhandari, Shankar Bhandari, Gagan Thapa, Badri Pandey, Jiwan Pariyar, Surendra Pandey and Jiwan Shahi had reached Koirala´s residence to press him to take initiatives to form new govenrment under NC´s leadership.
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