Six days after dissolving the lower house, the KP Sharma Oli government on Friday decided to call the winter session of the upper house.

"Friday's Cabinet meeting decided to recommend that the President summon the winter session of the upper house on January 1,” said Hridayesh Tripathi, who was made minister for health earlier on Friday.

The Cabinet meeting was held after Prime Minister Oli reshuffled the Cabinet to induct eight ministers, five of them former Maoist leaders, and change the portfolio of five of his ministers, including Tripathi.

On Sunday, after the dissolution of the House of Representatives, seven ministers belonging to the Dahal-Nepal faction of the ruling Nepal Communist Party had resigned.

The budget session of the federal parliament was prorogued on July 2 by the President on the recommendation of the government.

As per the constitutional provisions, the gap between the two House sessions cannot exceed six months.

Oli, who was increasingly under pressure from his opponents in the Nepal Communist Party to resign, was also facing pressure to call the winter session of the federal parliament.

Instead, Oli on Sunday decided to dissolve the lower house, in a move that has been widely criticised by experts on constitutional matters as unconstitutional.

The Supreme Court is hearing as many 13 writs against the House dissolution.

On Friday, the Constitutional Bench asked the government to furnish reasons why it dissolved the House and sought formation of an amicus curiae.

The House dissolution has resulted in a split in the Nepal Communist Party.