India wrongfully blamed for blockade: Nepal's Sadbhawana Party

Nepal's Sadbhawana Party president Rajendra Mahato on Sunday said the prevailing political deadlock in the country is their internal problem and added India is wrongly blamed for the supply blockade of gas and oil in Nepal.

"Madhesis are protesting for their rights. It's not the Indian, who are fighting for their rights in Nepal but the people of Madhesh who are protesting for their rights in Nepal. It is very easy to blame India for the Madhesis' protest. The supply blockade of gas and oil is due to our fault and it makes no sense to blame India for it," Mahato told the media here.

Mahato, who met Janata Dal (United) chief Sharad Yadav along with Sanghiya Samajbadi Nepal Forum chairman Upendra Yadav, further said that their protests would continue till the Madhesis get their rights.

Nepal's Sadbhawana Party president further said that they would be meeting External Affairs Minisyter Sushma Swaraj later this evening.

Two major demands of the agitating Madhesi groups - proportionate representation and allocation of Parliament seats on the basis of population - are incorporated in the Constitution Amendment Bill proposed by previous Nepali Congress-led government.

Since the promulgation of the Constitution in Nepal in September, the Madhesi population has been staging sit-ins on the border stopping flow of goods as they believe the country's new Constitution discriminates against them, denying them equal standing with other Nepalis.

The agitation has obstructed supply of essential commodities including petrol thereby creating a crisis in Nepal, which accused India of imposing an "economic blockade".

India has maintained that it has imposed no such blockade.