Though it was said to be a decisive meeting between ruling party chairs KP Sharma Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal, it ended without much headway, with both the leaders agreeing to sit again on Monday morning.

“The two leaders discussed various issues but there was no agreement. They have agreed to sit again before Monday’s Standing Committee meeting,” said Janardan Sharma, a Standing Committee member, who was present at the meeting between Oli and Dahal at Baluwatar.

Amid rising tensions in the ruling party after the Dahal faction demanded Oli’s resignation both as party chair and prime minister, Oli on Saturday said that plots were being hatched to oust him and impeach the President, enraging the rival group further.

Another leader present at the Oli-Dahal meeting said that Dahal had questioned Oli about his source of information.

Dahal, along with senior leaders Madhav Nepal and Jhala Nath Khanal, earlier on Sunday had met with the President and clarified that allegations about impeaching here were baseless and untrue.

“The meeting between the two chairs ended on a positive note today, and both leaders have agreed to sit for talks on Monday morning,” the leader who spoke on condition of anonymity told the Post.

The party’s Standing Committee has been scheduled for 11am Monday. The party on Saturday decided to postpone the meeting until Monday after the two chairs sought time to hold further discussions to save the party unity.

After the Dahal faction upped the ante, with around 30 of the 40 Standing Committee members demanding Oli’s resignation, Oli on Thursday decided to prorogue the House, raising concerns in the rival faction whether he was planning to introduce an ordinance to split the party.

Second rung leaders of the ruling party and those who were involved in materialising the unification between the CPN-UML and Maoist Centre in 2017-18 have been working to prod the two chairs to save the party unity.

The Nepal Communist Party was formed in May 2018 after the merger of Oli’s UML and Dahal’s Maoist Centre.

But two years later, the party seems to be headed for a split, with both factions led by Oli and Dahal hardening their positions.

The Dahal faction wants Oli to step down both as prime minister and party chair while Oli has stood firm on his stance that he is ready to discuss any other issue, except for his resignation.