KATHMANDU: CPN-UML leader Mahesh Basnet has said they could divide both the Nepali Congress (NC) and Maoist Center if they wanted to do so.

Basnet claimed that as many as 23 NC parliamentarians were inclined to split the NC and as many as 25 to 26 Maoist lawmakers were not in favor of Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’.

Addressing a virtual meeting of the UML-affiliated Youth Association of Nepal on Monday, Basnet said, “We are in a position to divide both the parties. However, if we act like them and do such activities, they accuse us of kidnapping.”

Basnet also said that Maoist leaders Narayan Kaji Shrestha and Janardan Sharma, who had criticized KP Sharma Oli in the past, were in favor of uniting with the UML. However, Basnet said the UML would prefer revolutionaries joining the UML instead of leaders such as Prachanda and Baburam Bhattarai.

He also claimed that KP Sharma Oli would be the Prime Minister for another five years during the virtual event.