Kathmandu, 1 February: In an effort to placate rivals in the ruling Nepali Congress party, Prime Minister and Congress president Koirala appointed rival Sher Bahadur Deuba to the powerful Central Working Committee (CWC), a party announcement said Thursday night. Koirala also nominated Krishna Prasad Bhattarai to the same committee a few days ago.

Of the 18 members elected to the CWC at the Congress convention last month, six were from the Deuba faction while 12 were Koirala supporters. The other half of the 37-member committee is being nominated by the party president. Analysts are watching to see how far Koirala will go to placate his rivals in the party and the government, even as they predict a cabinet reshuffle.

“The mandate of the convention was for unity in the party. We will have to wait and see how the prime minister moves ahead,” said a moderate Congress leader on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, the main UML opposition is demanding Koirala’s resignation as PM ahead of the winter session of parliament beginning 8 February over the Lauda Air scandal. The opposition says Koirala is responsible for approving the controversial deal, which has already cost Minister for Tourism Tarani Dutta Chataut and chief executive officer of RNAC Hari Bhakta Shrestha their jobs.