KATHMANDU: Bal Krishna Dhungel who was considered as a confidant of Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ has joined the KP Oli faction of the Nepal Communist Party (NCP).

Dhungel, who had been close to Prachanda since the ‘People’s War’, has announced that he has joined the Oli faction.

Dhungel, who spend a jail term after being convicted of murdering Ujjan Kumar Shrestha of Okhaldhunga, said that he was compelled to quit Prachanda camp as ‘he has taken wrong steps of late’.

Dhungel said that he joined the Oli group as Prachanda becomes ‘anti-nationalist’.

Lately, leaders including Ram Bahadur Thapa Badal, Lekhraj Bhatt and Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, who were considered close to Prachanda, have joined the Oli group.

Dhungel, who is also a former lawmaker, was released from Dilli Bazaar Jail on May 29, 2018, after a presidential pardon by President Bidhya Devi Bhandari on the 11th Republic Day.