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Rebellion against Nepalese PM: Reuters

Dissident members of the ruling Nepali Congress Party said on Thursday that they will try to topple the Himalayan kingdom's prime minister, saying he had failed to keep election promises.

The threat to Girija Prasad Koirala comes as the latest blow to the country, which has been rocked by days of rioting in Kathmandu over alleged anti-Nepalis slurs by a noted Indian film star. Four people have died in the violence.

A dissident party member said rebel deputies in the parliament's lower house of representatives had signed a petition to the party's parliamentary wing, seeking to replace Koirala as leader.

Koirala came to power in March. He has vowed to stamp out a four-year-old Maoist insurgency that has claimed more than 1,500 lives, fight corruption and provide good administration to a nation that has seen many weak governments between 1994 and 1999.

During his tenure, more than 300 people have died in Maoist violence.

"He (Koirala) has failed in all promises he made at the time of his election," said Congress member and former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, who is seeking to replace Koirala.

He told reporters that 56 of the party's 113 members in the 205-seat parliament had asked for an extraordinary meeting of party deputies to elect a new leader.

The number is one short of the required votes to oust Koirala, but Deuba said he believed more members would back him.

The latest move will not immediately jeopardise the future of the government, but Koirala must win a party vote in two weeks to remain in power.

Neither Koirala or his aides were immediately available for comment.

In March, Koirala became Nepal's tenth prime minister in as many years, replacing his long-time colleague and the Congress Party leader, Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, saying he had failed to deliver on election promises as well.

Koirala is under pressure to sack his deputy Ram Chandra Poudel as home (interior) minister for the latest violence in Kathmandu, in which dozens have been injured in protests over alleged slurs by Hrithik.

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