KATHMANDU, April 16 -- Nepal Communist Party chairmen KP Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal have initiated backdoor negotiations to bring disgruntled leaders on board the party merger process after the duo reached an understanding to wrap up the remaining work of the party unification.

Oli and Dahal on Monday held talks with Madhav Nepal to resolve the ongoing row over the allocation of power. Party insiders said that Oli has proposed reinstating district chairs of other factions who were replaced during the merger. Oli, however, appears reluctant to make any changes in his picks on provincial committees, they said.

The meeting came three days after a section of NCP secretaries agreed to resume the merger process of the local levels and sister ...