KATHMANDU, Jan 6: Chairman of Samajbadi Party (SP) on Monday said that it would be counterproductive for Rastriya Janata Party (RJP) if it forged alliance with the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) to form a new government in Province 2.

The SP and RJP have been running their coalition government after the 2017 parliamentary elections.

Yadav’s reaction comes following two major political developments— the exit of Yadav-led SP from the Oli-led government and RJP's electoral alliance with the NCP for the upcoming National Assembly elections. In the light of these two developments, it is widely speculated that RJP and NCP will form their new coalition government in Province 2, keeping the Samajbadi Party at bay. However, Yadav has ruled out the possibility of the formation of the new government in Province 2.

According to him, people mandated SP and RJP to take the helm of the government in Province 2. “We were assigned with the responsibility to run the government, develop the province and maintain law and order as per the election results. If they (RJP) attempt to do otherwise, they will have to pay price for it. It will be a suicidal step for them,” insisted Yadav while talking to Republica Online on Monday. 

Yadav also accused the RJP of undermining the issue of the constitution amendment. “Now they (RJP leaders) have been hypnotized by NCP. Hopefully, they may awaken after the NA election,” he said. 

SP Chair Yadav stated that his party will remain as a constructive opposition in the days to follow. “We had decided to join the NCP-led government to fulfill our objective of the constitution amendment. However, NCP leadership ignored it. With this, we’ll raise our issues through the parliament and street,” reiterated Yadav.

He said that his party will continue exerting pressure on the ruling parties to amend the constitution, eliminate corruption, and ensure people’s fundamental rights.

Yadav revealed that his party's unification with the RJP failed to make any headway primarily due to negligence of RJP leadership. "We were inching closer to the unification process with the RJP. Some issues including settlement of some key leaders in the to-be-formed unified party was one of the contentious issues, and that could have been done in due course. Initially, their precondition was our exit from the government. Ironically, as soon as we quit the government they forged electoral alliance with the NCP, putting all unification process in vain," he said.

Chairperson Yadav accused the NCP of being indifferent towards the demands of the constitution amendment raised by Madhesi parties. “They (NCP leadership) had a misperception that we would stick to the government under any circumstances although that was not true. When we realized that our issues would not be addressed, we had no options other than quitting the government and withdrawing the support to the government.”

“In the capacity of the Minister for Law, it was my sole responsibility to table the constitution amendment proposal. Earlier, we had signed a deal with NCP in this respect as well. Therefore, I floated the idea of forming a team of constitutionalists to make amendments to the constitution. Based on the ideas they generated, political parties could seek a meeting point in this regard. However, they (NCP) paid no heed to my proposal.”

Yadav also revealed that Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli vehemently ruled out his proposal. “He just went against his prior commitments with us,” he added. 

One of the partners of the Oli-led government until December 24, SP had quit the government following constitution amendment row citing that the ruling Nepal Communist Party breached the agreement with it regarding amendment of the statute.

 
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