By Lucky Chaudhary, Kathmandu, Nov. 3: The leaders of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) believe that the intra-party feud is not as serious as it is being portrayed in the media.

They have been reasoning that the usual discussions and remarks within a big and democratic party like NCP were exaggerated by the media, projecting that the party was on the verge of division.

The regular meetings between the party Chairmen, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' were centered on resolving the internal affairs of the party, claimed the leaders. They also dismissed the news about the NCP Chairmen not being on talking terms.

The NCP leaders believe that the Chairmen-duo were holding discussions to take the remaining works of organisational unification of the party forward and to make the works of the government and the party more effective.

"The intra-party feud has not reached the level of dividing the party and such situation will not come in the future as well," said the second-rung leaders of the NCP.

Subash Chandra Nembang, deputy-leader of the NCP parliamentary party and member of the NCP Standing Committee, said that the disputes within the party were not as complex as what is being shown in the media. PM Oli and chairman Prachanda are holding discussions on a regular basis, he said.

Nembang further clarified that the party was not on the verge of being divided.

Previously, the NCP Chairmen were holding meetings regularly. However, some leaders had been saying that no regular meetings were held after November 19. But Nembang, on the other hand, said, "It is not necessary for all the discussions and meetings of the party to be published on the media. Various works are going on internally without coming into the light of media. The party will not split and we will make sure that the NCP doesn’t face such a situation."

Likewise, Pradeep Nepal, central member of the NCP and the former minister said, "Although some internal disputes exist in the party, there is no way that the NCP is going to split."

"Both the Chairmen have their own way of working, it is not necessary that both of them have to like each others' work. However, it is inappropriate to interpret that the party is being divided," said Nepal.

It is necessary for PM Oli who is also NCP Chairman to consult within the party before taking serious decisions, leader Nepal said, "The PM has his own way of working. Chairman Prachanda might not have liked PM Oli's style. All these issues can easily be resolved via discussions."

Nepal said that he had held discussions with a few leaders about the effectiveness of the party at his own residence on Saturday. But the media portrayed it as a big issue, he said.

"It is normal to hold discussions or consultations with the party members. The problem arose after the media exaggerated the meeting," he said.

Leader Nepal said that he had held discussions about the effectiveness of the party with Standing Committee members Shankar Pokharel, Bishnu Rimal, Bhanubhakta Dhakal, Dr. Rajan Bhattarai and Surya Thapa.

"Although differences were grown between the Chairmen due to the Karnali incident, it is wrongful to say that the party was on the verge of splitting due to the incident," he added.

The Standing Committee meeting held on September 11 had given the responsibility of formulating procedure for completing the remaining party unification to the Chairmen.

The Chairmen, assuring to complete the unification work within October, had issued an intra-party circular. However, due to the internal disputes, the unification work has not been completed yet, said the leaders.

"I believe that the ongoing disputes would be resolved with the help of regular discussions between the Chairmen," said Nembang. "The second-level leaders of the party have been giving their recommendations and consultations to the Chairmen regularly."

However, leader Nepal has recommended that the youth generation should be ready to lead the NCP. "The youths are full of enthusiasm. It will be better if the leaders belonging to the elder generation take voluntary retirement." He said.

"Previously, I used to work for 18 hours a day but now, due to my growing age, I am not able to work for even 10 hours. I believe all the leaders above 65 years of age should take retirement now," added Nepal.