Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said that CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli had hatched a conspiracy against him and the government and joined hands with the Nepali Congress to form a new coalition by dismantling the UML-Maoist Centre alliance prematurely.

The four-month-long partnership between Dahal and Oli collapsed after the UML chief sealed a yet-to-be-disclosed seven-point agreement with Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba on the midnight of July 2.

Speaking at a meeting of the Maoist Centre’s parliamentary committee on Wednesday, the embattled prime minister accused Oli of betraying him. After the UML recalled its ministers from the Dahal Cabinet and withdrew its support to the government, Dahal is seeking the vote of confidence in the House of Representatives on Friday.

“Oli betrayed me for no reason,” said Dahal. “We came to know that the Nepali Congress and the UML were inching towards a political deal but Oli lied to me several times about it.”

On the morning of July 2, Dahal and Oli had a three-hour-long conversation at his residence in Baluwatar but Oli did not tell him the truth about what he had agreed with Deuba.

“If you are going to become the prime minister with the support of Nepali Congress, I will quit and help you,” Dahal shared with the party’s lawmakers about what he had told Oli. But Oli had flatly denied having reached an agreement with the Congress, according to Maoist leaders.

Hitraj Pandey, the chief whip of the Maoist Centre, quoted Dahal as saying that Oli did not want to inform him about the deal with Deuba.

According to Congress and UML leaders, Deuba, Oli and second rank leaders of both parties had met regularly for months ahead of the July 2 deal.

After second-rank leaders worked out the fundamentals of the new political deal and power-sharing, Deuba and Oli gave it a final touch at midnight on July 2 at the residence of a businessman.

Dahal and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Rabi Lamichhane have been claiming that after the arrest of Bechan Jha in the fake Bhutanese refugee case, Deuba and Oli joined forces in order to protect some of their close aides and family members.

According to Nepal Police officials, Jha, who claimed to be an influential power broker, had established good connections with top Congress and UML leaders. Citing their initial findings of interrogation with other suspects they had arrested, police said individuals had given millions of rupees to Jha to facilitate their travel to the United States on the guise of Bhutanese refugees. Some of the accused who masterminded the fake Bhutanese refugee scam are in police custody. Jha’s arrest made the Congress and UML leaders fearful of being arrested, said the Maoist and Swatantra Party leaders.

Briefing his party’s lawmakers, Dahal said that he then telephoned Deuba to know what exactly had happened between them. Deuba’s reply was that he and Oli had already reached a deal. He reportedly turned down Dahal's offer to lead the government, according to Pandey.

But UML leaders, including their general secretary Shankar Pokhrel, Deputy General Secretary Pradeep Gyawali and others, claimed that after Dahal returned from New Delhi, he started negotiations for new government formation with Deuba and offered him the leadership of a national government.

“After we came to know that the prime minister was hatching a conspiracy and going to destabilise the country's politics by changing the ruling partners, we decided to initiate talks with the Congress for the sake of forming a stable government, giving people hope and amending some constitutional provisions,” UMl leaders said. Dahal returned from New Delhi on June 10 after attending the swearing-in ceremony of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Dahal is seeking a vote of confidence on Friday. On Wednesday, the Nagarik Unmukti Party also decided to withdraw the support extended to the Dahal government. The government has already been reduced to a minority after the UML pulled the plug on it last week.

“We will talk to all political parties and seek their support,” said Pandey, the Maoist Centre chief whip.

The prime minister will mull his resignation only after the vote of trust in the House, said Pandey.

Dahal, who was elected prime minister as per Article 76 (2) of the constitution, claims that the next government will be formed as per Article 76 (3) of the constitution.

If the President upholds the spirit of the constitution, he should call for new government formation as per Article 76 (3), Pandey said.