The Nepali Congress party said a party convention had approved a resolution deleting the reference to constitutional monarchy from its constitution.

"Constitutional monarchy is no more the objective of our party," said Nara Hari Acharya, a senior party member.

Political parties in Nepal have been protesting against Gyanen-dra's seizure of power, which he justified by saying it was needed to crush a Maoist revolt during which more than 12,500 people have died since 1996.

Though Acharya did not say whether the party was now pushing for a republic, analysts said the king's action had shifted the political spectrum towards republicanism and the Nepali Congress move was a response to pressure from its cadre.

"It is being used to put pressure on the king to compromise," Kunda Dixit, editor of the weekly Nepali Times, said of the Nepali Congress's decision.

"The alarm bells should be ringing in the palace. It could be the beginning of a more radical shift in future."

The palace has yet to respond to the Nepali Congress move.

Nepal is the world's only officially Hindu nation, where many of its 26 million people consider the king as an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, one of the trinity of Hindu gods.

Gyanendra, officially a constitutional monarch, fired the multi-party cabinet on Feb. 1, jailed politicians and curbed civil liberties in his surprise takeover.

His move was widely criticised and key donors including Britain, the United States and neighbouring India have urged him to restore democracy.

But he is no closer to any deal with parties or the rebels, who want to topple the monarchy and set up a communist republic in the land-locked nation tucked between China and India.