Kathmandu, January 19:

Nepali Congress (NC) central committee member Govinda Raj Joshi today said Prachanda’s meeting with royalists signifies that the Maoists are not in favour of the Constituent Assembly election.

Addressing a party gathering in Bhadrabas VDC today, Joshi said: “How can Prachanda claim himself to be a democratic leader when he is busy meeting with ministers of the royal regime?”

Joshi’s accusation came a day after Maoist chairman Prachanda revealed that he had held a “discussion” with Ramesh Nath Pandey, former minister in the royal regime.

He was also aggressive towards the seven-party alliance, accusing them of not being serious about holding the April 10 Constituent Assembly election. He said: “Had they been serious enough, they would not have organised joint mass meetings.” Such joint mass meetings would not only be meaningless, but also would be counter-productive, Joshi said.

Joshi, who represents the NC dissident group, also criticised the government for not focussing on improving the law and order situation to ensure meaningful polls.

He also said “no” to the issue of the People’s Liberation Army integration into the Nepal Army.

“Forget about Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, the interim parliament or the seven parties, nobody can solve the issue of two armies’ integration,” Joshi said.

NC lawmaker Binay Dhoj Chand joined Joshi in criticising the government for failing to maintain law and order situation in the country and ruled out the possibility of holding the Constituent Assembly election on April 10 in the current “fragile” situation.