Kathmandu, October 9:

Former minister Gore Bahadur Khapangi, who has also headed an anti-Dashain campaign, today hinted that he could visit the Royal Palace to receive tika from the King on the occasion of Dashain.

When he was the head of Nepal Magar Association, Khapangi led an anti-Dashain campaign urging people of various ethnic communities not to celebrate Dashain, saying that it was a Hindu festival, adding, the Dashain tikas were merely a waste of precious rice grains.

But talking to journalists at the Reporters Club today, he said he might go to

the palace to receive tika from the King this Dashain. “I never opposed the tradition of tika. In fact, it will be a matter of honour for me to receive tika from any respectable personality,” he said.

Khapangi was embroiled in controversies after he received tika in 2002 from the King, following his appointed as the minister for Women, Children and Social welfare. But today, he said living in a multi-ethnic country, each ethnic group should respect the culture of another.

He inquired as to why only the reporters belonging to Bahun and Chhetri communities were interested on his forthcoming visit to the palace for tika, while the Magars themselves were not bothered about it.