KATHMANDU, Jan 13: Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has said that the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) has not split yet.

In a letter sent to the Election Commission (EC) on Wednesday, PM Oli, who is also the chairman of the rival faction of the ruling party, maintained that the party has not split yet and Pushpa Kamal Dahal is still the second-ranked chairman of the party.

Earlier on Thursday, the EC sent a letter to both the rival faction – one led by Oli and another by Dahal and Madhav Kumar Dahal- and asked to produce necessary details as per the Political Parties Act 2017 and its bylaws.

In his response to the election body, Oli argued that naming Madhav Kumar Nepal as another chairman of the party is irrational as there are already two chairmen in the party. Referring to the decision of Dahal-Nepal faction to relieve Oli from the post of first chairman and pick Nepal as Dahal’s co-chairman, Oli said that there is neither legal ground nor any justifiable reasons for such acts.

Following the dissolution of 275-member House of Representatives (HoR) by President Bidya Devi Bhandari at the recommendation of Prime Minister Oli on December 20, the ruling party has seen a vertical split into two factions across party’s committees as both the factions have been holding central committee meetings and mass gatherings at different places across the country.

Both the factions, however, have claimed that they are the official NCP.

 
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