Leaders of Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP), that is considered crucial in the power dynamics, have intensified meetings a day ahead of the floor test sought by Prime Minister (PM) KP Sharma Oli.
JSP leaders Mahantha Thakur and Rajendra Mahato, who have preferred to ally with Oli until now, met Nepali Congress (NC) President Sher Bahadur Deuba at the latter's residence in Budhanilkantha Sunday morning.
The two sides talked for almost one and a half hours. What the leaders talked during the meeting have yet to be known.
A JSP source confided that Thakur and Mahato have reached Baluwatar to talk with Oli after meeting Deuba.
JSP, which has 34 House of Representatives (HoR) members including two suspended lawmakers, is divided on whether to support Oli or not. JSP leaders Baburam Bhattarai and Upendra Yadav, coming from erstwhile Federal Socialist Forum Nepal, have publicly demanded toppling of Oli government while leaders from the erstwhile Rashtriya Janata Party like Thakur and Rajendra Mahato have been negotiating with Oli.
The Yadav-Bhattarai faction has 17 lawmakers and claims that the number can rise up to 22. The Thakur-Mahato faction is in minority in both the party and parliamentary party.
A few JSP leaders have confided that Thakur and Mahato may also vote against Oli now that lawmakers of the Khanal-Nepal faction of CPN-UML are likely to resign before the floor test, and Oli may fail the floor test even if the Thakur-Mahato faction supports his government.
