The meeting of the UCPN (Maoist) and UDMF leaderships including Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai decided that the respective parties should decide the fate of Ministers Bhandari and Sah. [break]
Sah represents the Maoist party whereas Bhandari was appointed from the Madhesi People´s Rights Forum-Democratic (MPRF-D).
“We concluded that the respective parties should finalize the issue of resignation by the two ministers. The government will take a decision once the respective parties come up with their views in this regard,” Minister for Information and Communications JP Gupta, who is also Chairman of MPRF-R, told Republica.
According to a senior MPRF-D leader, the party has made up its mind that Bhandari should resign as strong exception has been taken to his controversial remarks. However, the UDMF is yet to come up with an official view in this regard.
“Our alliance will hold discussions in this connection and come up with our official view soon,” Chief Whip of MPRF-D Ramjanam Chaudhari told Republica.
Bhandari, who is also a central leader of the MPRF-D, had said during a function in the capital on September 26 that nothing could prevent the 22 districts of the Tarai from seceding if the state continued to be indifferent to their concerns.
Sah has been accused of masterminding the murder of Hindu Yuwa Sangha leader Kashinath Tiwari of Birgunj.
According to Gupta, Madhesi leaders put forward the view at the meeting that opposition parties have been using Bhandari´s statement as a political weapon rather than looking at the merits of the issue.
The meeting also dwelt on the four-point agreement and the agenda for the prime minister´s India visit.
The Madhesi leaders had sought the Maoist opinion on the four-point agreement as Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal had said that the deal could be reviewed.
In response, Dahal, who was present, clarified that he did not mean to call for a review of the UDMF-Maoist agreement. “This is a historic document; we can´t rethink it. I just meant that we could hold discussions on it within our party,” Gupta quoted Dahal as saying at the meeting.
Chairman of Tarai Madhes Democratic Party-Nepal (TMDP-N) Mahendra Yadav said that it would not be acceptable for the UDMF to review the four-point agreement.
The ruling parties decided not to include in the agenda for the prime minister´s visit issues that require national consensus.
Prime Minister Bhattarai, Maoist Chairman Dahal, Chairmen of MPRF-D Bijay Kumar Gachchhadar, MPRF-R Chairman Gupta, TMDP-N Chairman Yadav, Sadbhawana Party Chairman Rajendra Mahato and Vice-Chair of TMDP Hridayesh Tripathi were present at the meeting.
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