Kathmandu, June 21 -- A back-and-forth between the leaders of the former CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Centre) has laid bare the deepening ideological differences in the ruling Nepal Communist Party, which was born out of the merger between the two communist forces in May last year.

Now, just as Co-chair and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and another Co-chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal are close to an agreement on making public the political document which defines the guiding principle of the party to put the debate over the party's ideology to rest for the time being, former UML leaders have ratcheted up their call to adopt "people's multiparty democracy" as the party's official line.

The political document, which has not been made public despite dema...