Dahal to hold talks with agitating Madhesi leaders

The Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who also heads the High-Level Political Coordination Committee to oversee the activities of the CPN-UML-led coalition government, is set to hold talks with agitating Madhesi parties.

Dahal said that he would take the lead in resolving issues raised by Madhesi parties as soon as he returned to Kathmandu, yesterday while addressing different functions outside the capital.

UCPN-M General Secretary Krishna Bahadur Mahara said that Dahal was taking the initiative since the government was least interested in bringing the agitating Madhesi parties on board through talks.

"Though there has been no official decision Chairman Dahal has been taking the initiative to resolve the outstanding Madhesi issues through dialogue," the Himalayan Times quoted Mahara as saying.

Dahal during his meeting with senior Nepali Congress leader Ramchandra Paudel stressed on the need of a working alliance among major parties to address the grievance of Madhesi parties.

Madhesi-based the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) leader Biswonath Sah also said that since there was no alternate to talks in resolving issues raised by the Madhesi parties, his party could act as a mediator as it shared agenda closer to that of Madhesis.

In the recently concluded Central Committee meeting of the CPN-UML, the party has called the agitating Madhesi parties for dialogue to resolve outstanding issues and urged the government to withdraw all political cases against agitators of the United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) and create an environment for talks.

Nepali Congress leader and former member of the talks team Mahesh Acharya also expressed that government hasn't been serious in resolving the issues in bringing the agitating parties to the talks table.

Following which, Nepali Congress Parliamentary Party, Sher Bahadur Deuba has said that his party would now take the lead in resolving the concerns of the agitating UDMF.

Meanwhile, Ram Naresh Raya, leader of Tarai Madhes Sadbhawana Party has announced that UDMF will be launching a national level movement scheduled today with 17 different forces.