By Our Political Analyst The drama staged by the senior leaders in the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) has ended with the new deal of sharing power in the party. Many allegations were made against Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli with the conclusion that he had failed while running the party and the government. Furthermore, a serious allegation was that PM and chairman Oli has totally destroyed the party’s image among the public. In such a background, PM Oli was asked to tender his resignation from both the posts. Political observers were seriously concerned about the tussle between the two groups Oli vs majority of the party secretariat members’ front, which could lead to a split in the party. Nevertheless, in spite of such serious allegations against Oli, overnight, PM Oli has become able to bag majority in three main organs of the party – party secretariat, party standing committee and party central committee – by bringing co-chairman Pushpakamal Dahal Prachanda and vice chairman Bamdev Gautam on his side, by cornering Madhav Nepal and JN Khanal. Oli invited crisis: After issuance of the two ordinances related to split of the party and appointment in the constitutional bodies, Oli faced strong criticism from within the party and also from outside. The ordinance for splitting the party was aimed at split of Rastriya Janata Party and Socialist Party. With the strong assurance from some leaders of Socialist party that after the split of their party, the splinter group will support the government making the ruling party’s strength at two-thirds majority in the parliament, Oli took such a decision. However, Oli’s target misfired, which invited crisis for him. In the first secretariat meeting, vice chairman Bamdev Gautam demanded Oli’s resignation from both the posts, whereas, in the following meeting, co-chairman Dahal demanded Oli’s resignation from both the posts. Along with the constitution of anti-Oli front among Dahal, Madhav Nepal, JN Khanal and Gautam, PM Oli fell into minority in the secretariat committee, standing committee and also in the central committee, morally compelling him to tender his resignation from both the posts. However, on 2 May evening, Oli had held separate meetings with Dahal and Gautam. In the meeting, Oli had convinced Dahal for sharing power in the party. Likewise, Oli had assured Bamdev Gautam to make him the next PM by electing him as the parliament member from a by-election. With the power sharing tactic, PM Oli, within minutes, became successful to destroy the opposition front, on which, Nepal was unaware until the start of the secretariat meeting. Earlier, Oli had offered the position of third party chairman to Nepal but he denied to accept it. Madhav Nepal’s plan: Madhav Nepal, who is preparing to be the next party chairman, had tried to oust Oli from both the posts – party chairman and PM. His group had even planned to oust President Bidya Devi Bhandari through an impeachment against her and making JN Khanal the next President. Of late, by ousting Oli, Nepal had wished to become the PM by handing over the responsibility of party chairmanship to Dahal until the upcoming party election. With the power sharing plan among JN Khanal, Nepal, Gautam and Dahal, a strong front against Oli was developed in the party. Dahal’s analysis: The Dahal group had analysed that the outcome of the tussle with Oli would immediately benefit Madhav Nepal, however, Dahal was not achieving anything further. Nepal is the candidate to the post of party chairman. On the other hand, Dahal is more interested on the post of party chairman rather than the post of the PM. In the upcoming party election, there will be competition between Nepal and Dahal. Dahal, without support of Oli, cannot secure his victory. Oli, on the other hand, is learnt to have made a deal to share power between Dahal and him while running the party. In the secretariat meeting, Oli didn’t hesitate for self criticizing and accepting the past mistakes. He also expressed the commitment to run the government following the party directives. Oli also said that he was firm on his previous decision for making Gautam the next PM. Later, to pave the way for Gautam to become the PM, the meeting decided to bring him in the parliament through a by-election. Oli, ultimately, has become successful to overcome the ongoing crisis through a power sharing deal. Present equation in the secretariat: Out of the nine members in the party secretariat, Oli, Dahal, Bishnu Poudel, Gautam, Ishwor Pokhrel and Rambahadur Thapa are seen clearly on Oli’s side, whereas, Narayankaji Shrestha is seen neutral. In this way, the Oli camp holds clear strength of six members. Chinese role: The Chinese ambassador remained active in meeting with NCP leaders in dispute. The ambassador met with President Bhandari, PM Oli and also party chairman Dahal and senior leader Nepal. She gave the message that China was in favour of a united NCP and suggested to end the dispute which would lead the party towards a split. Nevertheless, China, which was playing a quiet diplomacy by keeping her aloof from the internal politics of the friendly counties, has been seen visible now. So far, the activities of the Chinese embassy have been criticized as interference in Nepal’s domestic politics. Daily newspapers as well as different people have remarked negatively about the Chinese activities. Newspapers have even reported that there was China’s role in the unification of UML and Maoist Center two years ago. Nepal feels Dahal conspired against him: Dahal had provoked Nepal to forge a front against Oli. Nepal was confused on Dahal’s role in the party. However, Nepal wanted to use Dahal to go against Oli and when disputes between Dahal and Oli surfaced, Nepal thought that Dahal cannot return from the point of dispute as both Oli and Dahal had reached to the stage of fight to finish each other. Along with Oli’s offer to Nepal to become the third chairman in the party, Dahal became suspicious that if Nepal will become the party chairman, Dahal felt that he would be sidelined in the party. Again, Dahal was suspicious that there could be high possibility of unity among the former UML leaders by sidelining Dahal anytime. Dahal, thus analysed that the tussle with Oli could be costly for his political future in the party. Nepal, so far, has felt that at the last hours, Dahal has betrayed him. What Oli gained?: On 29 June, the government should present the budget for the new fiscal year. There was high possibility of failure of the budget and the government’s policy and programme from the parliament due to the non-cooperation from the ruling party MPs. In case of failure of the policy and programme and the budget, Oli had to tender his resignation or had to show his majority from the parliament. Now, the situation has been avoided. The party standing committee is scheduled for Thursday, 7 May and the secretariat meeting is going to take place on 6 May to set agendas for the standing committee. Now, the voice demanding Oli’s resignation in the 45 member standing committee has become weak along with Gautam and Dahal’s support for Oli. Nevertheless, the Nepal group is planning to laude against Oli demanding implementation of one person one post concept.