KATHMANDU: Vice-chairman of the UCPN-Maoist Dr Baburam Bhattarai today said that the declaration of autonomous republican states as part of their protest plan was not against the Interim Constitution and the peace agreement.

“Declaring autonomous republican states was nothing but a symbolic protest and has nothing to do with the CPA and the Interim Constitution,” he said. Bhattarai also clarified that his party was not for exercising parallel government. “We have only warned the parties that they should not neglect our demands,” he said.

Referring to Dhankuta incident, he said that it was not his party’s plan. “We’ll probe into the incident,” he said.