CPN Spokesperson Narayan Kaji Shrestha has claimed Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal was not tricked into going to Shital Niwas on Saturday.
"Nobody takes anyone by trick. Nobody goes. He is not the kind of chairman who can be taken by trick," Shrestha said after the standing committee meeting on Tuesday. "The truth is Chairman Dahal went to Shital Niwas."
Dahal and fellow Chairman KP Sharma Oli had left for the Shital Niwas immediately after the secretariat meeting on Saturday. CPN General Secretary Bishnu Paudel, Shankar Pokharel, Barsha Man Pun and Janardan Sharma had also accompanied the two chairmen to meet President Bidya Devi Bhandari.
There have been reports about Dahal briefing those close to him that he was forced to go to Shital Niwas. But Shrestha claimed that Dahal has not briefed so.
When asked if the Dahal faction has stepped back from the demand of Oli's resignation, he stepped two steps back and jokingly said, "Have stepped back for now."
The standing committee meeting finally resumed after almost three weeks on Tuesday. But it was soon postponed until next Tuesday.
Shrestha said the meeting expressed condolence for those losing their life in natural disasters and wished for speedy recovery of those injured. The meeting also urged the government to make arrangements of temporary shelters for those rendered homeless by the disaster and provide relief to the victims.
He informed that 233 persons have been killed and 98 injured, and 282 houses completely destroyed due to the floods and landslides across the country. He said the meeting has been postponed by a week due to the disaster.
Shrestha said the two chairmen met before the standing committee meeting Tuesday to discuss about today's meeting. Oli, however, did not attend the meeting when it resumed after being deferred by a couple of hours earlier on the day, and Shrestha claimed that he missed the meeting due to tiredness owing to other engagements.
He added that discussion between the two chairmen to resolve the internal dispute is ongoing and no agreement has been reached yet.
