Kathmandu: Hours after Nepal's King Gyanendra stunned the nation by dismissing him as Prime Minister, Sher Bahadur Deuba on October 5 said his "surprise" ouster was "unconstitutional", as the Royal move triggered sharp reaction from political parties which termed it as "shocking".

"I am surprised. As far as I have understood, the King cannot remove me as per the Constitution," Deuba said.

Nepalese politics took a dramatic turn on October 4 night when the King in a televised address announced sacking of Deuba and dissolving of his Cabinet. Earlier Deuba had asked the king to postpone the November 13 polls because of Maoist insurgency.

"I wanted elections and I had decided to postpone elections on request by the all party meeting," Deuba said.

Challenging his ouster, he said, "I cannot be removed Constitutionally."

According to a source close to Deuba, the King had asked him to voluntarily resign from the post before sacking him.

The King held separate meetings with various political leaders including former Premier G P Koirala, before making the announcement.

Political leaders also reacted sharply to the disbanding of the Deuba Cabinet.

Nepali Congress, after holding Central Working Committee meeting, said the party has regarded the King's move as against the spirit of the Constitution and came to the conclusion that there is no other option available at present Nepali Congress is to hold another meeting later in the day after which the formal view point of the party will be made public, its spokesman Arjun Narsingh K C said.

Reacting to the Royal move, Madhav Kumar Nepal, general secretary of Nepal Communist Party (UML), said, "This is extremely shocking. This is an unthinkable step," he said.

Lilamani Pokhrel, leader of Janamorcha Nepal, said the achievements of people's movement of 1990 and its spirit have been "jeopardised" by the move.

"The King has created a political vacuum by sacking the Prime Minister," he said.

In 1990 a multi-party movement succeeded in overthrowing the 30-year party less system of autocratic rule and Democracy was re-established.

Nepalese political parties were holding meetings to discuss the political developments after the king's move, party sources said.

PTI