The ruling Nepal Communist Party has deferred the third full meeting of its Central Committee for a month.

Issuing a press statement on Wednesday, the ruling party said that the meeting has been postponed for a month owing to the rise in Covid-19 cases across the country.

"The meeting scheduled to commence from October 31 to November 2 has been postponed for a month and will take place from November 30 to December 2," reads the statement.

After holding its first Central Committee meeting in May 2018, just after the formation of the Nepal Communist Party following the merger between the CPN-UML and the Maoist Centre, the party held its second Central Committee meeting in January-February this year.

The announcement on Wednesday on the postponement of the third Central Committee meeting of the party comes on the heels of controversy after the Indian intelligence chief’s visit to Nepal and his meeting with Prime Minister and party chair KP Sharma Oli.

Some members including Bhim Rawal and Narayan Kaji Shrestha, who is also the spokesperson for the party, have taken exception to Oli’s meeting with Samanta Kumar Goel, chief of Research & Analysis Wing (R&AW), India’s top spy agency, last week in Kathmandu.