KATHMANDU, April 29: UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has claimed that there will be election at any cost by mid-December.
Addressing a reception participated by the party´s well wishers and the party´s India chapter at Nepalese Embassy in New Delhi Sunday evening, Chairman Dahal asked all the Nepalis domiciled in India to help create an environment for holding the polls as the current Chief Justice-led government is formed solely for holding polls.[break]
According to participants in the function, Dahal said since there was support from all quarters for fresh polls, small agitating political parties would not be able to derail the process. He said that he would hold talks about the development agenda during his meeting with senior Indian leaders.
On the occasion, Nepali living in India had asked Dahal to make necessary arrangements so that they could also vote in the upcoming election. The function was however boycotted by the India chapters of Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and other parties.
Though Dahal was originally scheduled to visit Himachal Pradesh to see a dam constructed on the Sutlej River on Sunday, he had to abort his visit due to bad weather. Dahal inspected Noida-based power station on Sunday.
Shortly after his arrival in New Delhi, Dahal had a meeting with Indian Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai on Saturday evening. He had then attended a dinner party hosted by the President of Bharatiya Janata Party Rajnath Singh.
During the meeting, Singh had expressed concern over the growing instances of religious conversion in Nepal in the aftermath of the political change in 2006.
Sources close to Dahal confirmed that Singh also asked the latter to take necessary initiatives so that there won´t be religious conversions with the backing of money and other incentives.
His concern come in the wake of reports that a large number of Hindus are being converted to Christianity using money and other forms of inducement. While stating that abject poverty and illiteracy could have led to such a situation in the country, Dahal assured Singh that such conversion won´t be allowed.
Among others, Dahal is scheduled to hold meeting with Indian foreign secretary Salman Khurshid and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday during his four-day stay in India.
Related story
How much does a train cost?
