Will infighting within Nepal's ruling party bring down the KP Oli government?
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Prime minister Oli is clearly caught between a rock and a hard place. He picked China over India, surrendered his sovereignty and the move boomeranged.
Nepal prime minister K P Oli kicked up a diplomatic firestorm and unleashed a wave of anti-India sentiment.
However, Oli’s campaign to stay in office has taken a turn for the worse and his government could be headed for a collapse.
According to a report published in the Kathmandu Post, Oli’s position as prime minister is on shaky ground and his own party wants him to quit.
Now, the Nepal Communist Party is actually a coalition of two communist parties - one headed by Pushpa Kamal Dahal, better known as Prachanda, and the other by K P Sharma Oli.
Prachanda has served as prime minister of Nepal twice. His supporters accuse the prime minister Oli of failing the party and the government.
To stay in office, Oli took a tough position against India to prove his territorial nationalism. But, the wind is blowing in a different direction now.
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This week, Oli’s government faced a series of setbacks - first, the opposition moved a resolution in parliament, saying that China has encroached more than 64 hectares of Nepal's land.
On Wednesday, the Standing Committee of the Nepal Communist Party began its meeting and it was combative. According to the reports, only 11 out of the 44 committee members were on Oli's side.
The Standing Committee was supposed to continue its meeting on Thursday, but prime minister Oli decided to skip it.
In the past, the Chinese ambassador to Nepal has openly intervened in such matters, she held meetings with the ruling party members to sort out differences and keep the government afloat.
Prime minister Oli is clearly caught between a rock and a hard place. He picked China over India, surrendered his sovereignty and the move boomeranged.
Oli's downfall has been a long time coming, Prachand has been at it for a while. Oli is losing Nepal's land to China, he's losing India's sympathy, he's losing his people's confidence, and now he's also losing the support of his own party members.