Makawanpur: – A gathering of national cadres convened by senior CPN-UML leaders Madhav Kumar Nepal and Jhala Nath Khanal has started today.

The group said all preparations for the gathering had been completed. The gathering will be held at Hotel Heritage Garden in Lalitpur Sanepa.

UML chairperson KP Sharma Oli and general secretary Ishwor Pokharel have asked not to hold the meeting. However, the group has decided to continue the scheduled meeting.

Yogesh Bhattarai, an UML leader has informed that more than 2,000 people including district leaders and central committee members would participate in the gathering.

The Nepal-Khanal faction is dissatisfied after Chairman Oli single-handedly nominated 23 people, including CPN-Maoist leader Ram Bahadur Thapa Badal, as central members from the Central Committee meeting on March 11. The group has demanded to withdraw the decision saying it would be against the party constitution.