Ex-Nepal PM severs ties with Maoist party

Nepal's former prime minister Baburam Bhattarai announced on Saturday that he has severed ties with the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (UPCN)-Maoist.

During a press conference in Kathmandu, Bhattarai said that he has handed over his resignation to party chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, The Himalayan Times reported.

The senior leader also said he handed over the resignation from parliament to Speaker Subas Chandra Nembang earlier in the day.

He further said that he would remain in politics independently.

Though announcing the resignation from Parliament and party, the leader said he could extend his support to resolving the existing political problems facing the nation.

Bhattarai announced that he would lobby for "progressive nationalism" and fight against "fake nationalism".

His views on the newly promulgated constitution have been different from others in the party. He had openly extended support to the Madhes-based parties and their agitations while the party chairman had urged them to begin a dialogue and join hands with the ruling Nepali Congress and Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML).

Claiming that India has imposed an unannounced blockade on Nepal, the former premier also asked the government to take diplomatic initiatives to solve the issue at the earliest.

"Before that, the agitations in Tarai-Madhes have to be addressed," he added.

Bhattarai had served as prime minister from August 2011 to March 2013, during the first Constituent Assembly.