Nepal's ruling communist party meet to decide PM Oli's fate deferred till Monday
Kathmandu: A crucial meeting of Nepal's ruling communist party to decide the political future of embattled Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli was postponed until Monday to allow more time for the top leadership to iron out their differences over his style of functioning and anti-India statements.
The meeting of the Nepal Communist Party's 45-member powerful Standing Committee was scheduled to be held on Saturday at 11 AM local time. But it was postponed at the last minute.
Prime Minister's press advisor Surya Thapa said the meeting was postponed until Monday as the top leaders of the NCP required more time to forge an understanding on the outstanding issues.
The Standing Committee meeting has been postponed until 11 AM Monday as both the chairs needed time for further discussions, said Bishnu Sapkota, the press advisor to Prachanda said separately.
The much-publicised meeting was supposed to begin at the Prime Minister's official residence in Baluwatar to find a way out from the ongoing intra-party crisis which is dragging the ruling communist party close to a split.
Earlier, the Standing Committee meeting scheduled for Thursday was also postponed as the senior leaders required more time for discussions before formally sitting down for the meeting.
The three hour-long informal meeting between Prime Minister Oli and NCP executive chairman Prachanda on Friday as the last-minute attempt to rescue the party from possible catastrophe failed to reach any headway.
During Friday's informal meeting, the two leaders reviewed the overall situation, including party unity and ways to rescue the party from the present crisis, senior leader Ganesh Shah told PTI.
They also discussed the agenda to be put forth for discussion during the upcoming Standing Committee meeting, he said.
During their Friday talks, Prachanda reiterated his position that Oli should step down but the latter refused, saying he was open to discuss any other issue, except for his resignation, The Kathmandu Post reported.
I won't resign from both the positions. Do whatever you can, Oli told Dahal, according to Raghuji Pant, a Standing Committee member.
On Friday, Oli and Prachanda failed whether to follow the May 16, 2018 agreement or the November 20, 2019 understanding reached between them.
In May 2018, when Oli and Dahal announced formation of the Nepal Communist Party, they had reached a gentleman's agreement to lead the government in turn, two-and-a-half years each.
But according to the November 2019 agreement, Oli would lead the government for the full five-year term and Dahal would run the party as executive chairman .
Dahal has maintained that Oli failed to uphold the spirit of the November 2019 agreement, hence he should abide by the May 2018 gentleman's agreement, making way for him to lead the government.
As the meeting failed to break the ice, with both the sides sticking to their stands, Oli and Prachanda briefly met on Saturday morning to iron out their difference, according to party sources.
As the Saturday morning's meeting also could not bear any fruit, the party's Standing Committee meeting scheduled to begin at 11 AM (10:45 IST) was put off until Monday,
Prime Minister Oli, 68, on Sunday claimed that there have been various kinds of activities in the "embassies and hotels" to remove him from power.
He said some Nepalese leaders were also involved in the plot in the aftermath of his government updating the country's political map by incorporating three strategically key Indian territories -- Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura.
Raising baseless accusations against India and leaders of his own party by the Prime Minister was not appropriate, a senior leader of the party quoted Prachanda as saying during the Standing Committee meeting on Tuesday.
Prachanda has time and again spoken about the lack of coordination between the government and the party and he was pressing for a one-man one position system to be followed by the NCP.
The differences between the two factions of the NCP -- one led by Oli and the other led by Prachanda -- intensified after the prime minister unilaterally decided to prorogue the budget session of Parliament on Thursday.
According to political analysts, the ruling party may split if Oli did not compromise with the dissident faction.
Meanwhile, a group of the party's Central Committee members staged a sit-in at the party's central office at Dhumbarahi to exert pressure on both the sides to avoid a split.
Monday's Standing Committee meeting will decide whether the party will split or not, and whether Oli gives up one of the two positions. Currently Oli is the prime minister as well as the co-chair of the NCP.
Oli has been cornered in the ruling party as the majority of the senior leaders are with Prachanda. Oli has the support of only 15 members in the 45-member Standing Committee.
The ruling NCP has 174 seats in the 275-member House of Representatives.
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CM Siddaramaiah to present his record 17th Budget on Mar 6
Bengaluru (PTI): The Budget Session of the Karnataka Legislature will begin here on Friday, with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah presenting the Budget for 2026-27, his record 17th as the state's finance minister.
This is another feat for Siddaramaiah, who recently surpassed D Devaraj Urs's record to become the longest-serving Chief Minister of Karnataka.
However, this has come amid speculation over a possible change of Chief Minister after the Budget session, citing a "power-sharing" arrangement between him and his deputy D K Shivakumar, at the time of the government formation in 2023.
According to official sources, Siddaramaiah as the finance minister, faces a "tightrope walk" as he must negotiate between containing the revenue deficit and funding his government's populist guarantee schemes ('Shakti', 'Gruha Lakshmi', 'Gruha Jyoti', 'Yuva Nidhi' and 'Anna Bhagya').
Faced with a revenue shortfall amid rising expenditure commitments, he has a task cut out to maneuver the state's finances while maintaining fiscal discipline.
As the CM is expected to look for resource mobilisation measures, speculations are rife that there may be an increase in taxes.
There are calls to trim the outlay on the 'guarantee' schemes, with annual spending for the five schemes exceeding Rs 50,000 crore. In 2025-26, the government allocated Rs 51,034 crore for the guarantee schemes.
Also to be factored in is an increase in the government's expenses like salaries, as it has decided to recruit for 56,432 vacant jobs.
The government expects a revenue shortfall of Rs 18,000 crore in the current fiscal (2025-26) due to factors like GST rate rationalisation among others, official sources said.
The total expenditure for 2025-26 was estimated to be Rs 4.09 lakh crore. However this may be lowered to about Rs 3.9 lakh crore, they said.
As per the 2025-26 Budget Estimates, the state's total liabilities by the end of March 2026 are projected at Rs 7,64,655 crore, which constitutes 24.91 per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), the government has said.
Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly R Ashoka on Thursday took a dig at CM Siddaramaiah ahead of the state Budget presentation, claiming that the government is expected to borrow Rs 1.15 lakh crore and is likely to impose fresh taxes on the people.
He said the Budget would have nothing new, adding that its highlights would be criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and repeated mentions of the five guarantee schemes.
The opposition is also expected to corner the government during the session on a host of issues, including the implementation of internal reservation among SCs during the recruitment process it decided to undertake -- the issue on which there is a rift between SC (Right) and SC (Left) factions within the ruling Congress.
Alleged diversion of Scheduled Caste Sub-Plan (SCSP) and Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP) funds to fund guarantee schemes, irregularities in the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) Mains examination and selection process, developmental issues, irrigation projects, and law and order are among the other issues on which the opposition is likely to target the government.
Several Bills, including an amendment to the Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Act, 2020, aimed at allowing vehicles used for illegal transport of cattle to be released on an indemnity bond, and the Karnataka Crowd Control (Managing Crowd at Events and Place of Gathering) Bill, 2025, which was referred to a select committee, are likely to be tabled during the session.
