The Central Committee meeting of the Pushpa Kamal Dahal-led faction of the ruling Nepal Communist Party has unanimously decided to elevate senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal as the party’s chair and to take disciplinary action against the ousted chair and prime minister KP Sharma Oli.

“Now Dahal and Nepal will chair the meetings in turn as stated in the party statue,” said Rekha Sharma, a central committee member. “Oli has been expelled as the party chair for going against the party.”

[Read: Oli faction submits list of members of the party’s enlarged Central Committee to Election Commission

According to leaders, the meeting of its parliamentary party scheduled for Wednesday will elect Dahal as the parliamentary party leader ousting Oli as the Dahal-Nepal faction’s Central Committee decided to oust him as party chair.

While the other chair Oli said he would not take any action against any leaders, the Dahal-Nepal faction, having majority in all the party committees, decided to take disciplinary action against Oli on Sunday.

The meeting of the Oli faction’s Central Committee earlier Tuesday had ousted Narayan Kaji Shrestha as party spokesperson and appointed Pradeep Gyawali as the new spokesperson.

Addressing the meeting, Dahal said more than 66 percent of the central committee members are present in the meeting including all former Maoists and leaders who had led the former CPN-UML many times referring to Madhav Nepal and Jhalanath Khanal.

According to a Central Committee member present at the meeting, Dahal said Bamdev Gautam could join the party later and Ram Bahadur Thapa has assured him that he will join from tomorrow.

“This hall is expecting both Gautam and Thapa here,” the central member quoted Dahal as saying.

He termed the Central Committee meeting of Oli as a gathering of a faction.

“How can one third take action against two-thirds majority,” Dahal had questioned, according to the leader. “The party is here and it has not split but a small fraction has left.”

The central committee meeting is going on at Karki Banquet, Babarmahal.

Addressing the meeting, senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal said Oli was trying to revive the former CPN-UML but that was not possible, according to a leader at the meeting.

The party’s Standing Committee members and former Maoist leaders Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, Mani Thapa and Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Lekhraj Bhatta joined the Oli-led meeting of the Central Committee.

While Standing Committee member Haribol Gajurel, who had not made his stance clear and Raghbir Mahaseth, who was with Oli earlier, have joined the central committee meeting of Dahal-Nepal faction.

But party vice-chair Bamdev Gautam and Secretariat member Ram Bahadur Thapa have not made their positions clear yet.

Earlier chairman Dahal, senior leaders Madhav Nepal and Jhalanath Khanal and spokesperson Narayan Kaji Shrestha had reached Gautam’s residence in Bhaisepati but according to leaders, he asked the leaders for a few more days to think.

Gautam’s wife Tulasa Thapa, who is also a central committee member, has also not attended any meetings lately.

Also the Home Minister Thapa has met both the party chairs but he has not joined any of the party’s central committee meetings. On Monday, all the central committee members close to him except Surya Subedi had suggested him to join Dahal’s faction and he had assured them to decide accordingly. However, even after Monday’s visit of chairman Dahal, he has not made his stance clear though leaders of Dahal faction have said he will join them.

Later in the afternoon Thapa met with Gautam. When he joined hands with Dahal Thapa had 33 central committee members as his share in the party.

But now most of the leaders including Standing Committee members Dev Gurung and Pampha Bhusal were at the Central Committee meeting called by the Dahal-Nepal faction.