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The ruling Nepali Congress formally split on Wednesday after supporters of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba elected him president of the party, a day after ousting incumbent Girija Prasad Koirala.
The split came three weeks after Deuba was expelled by Koirala for three years for recommending to Nepal's King Gyanendra to dissolve parliament and call early elections when party leaders refused to back his plan to extend the state of emergency to deal with the Maoist insurgency.
Deuba was unanimously elected president at the national convention of the party, which on Tuesday passed a no-confidence motion against Koirala.
"We tried till the last minute but could not save the party from splitting," Deuba said after being elected president of the faction-ridden party.
Deuba said he was compelled to remove Koirala after he refused to withdraw the decision to expel him from the party's membership.
Koirala, a former prime minister, has said both the party convention and the no-confidence vote were illegal.
His supporters accused Deuba of misusing government machinery to influence party members.
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