KATHMANDU: Nepali Congress (NC) vice president, Ram Chandra Paudel, on Friday warned the government that the NC would seriously react if the government sacked Chief of Army Staff (CoAS), Rookmangud Katawal. He also accused the main coalition partner, Unified CPN-Maoist, of planning to conscript its combatants in the NA by sacking Katawal and demoralising the NA.

Paudel said, “The UCPN-M is trying to drag the NA into a political dispute by spreading the rumours that the NA leadership was plotting a military coup. The PM also expressed similar fear during the all-party meeting on Wednesday.” Paudel said that there was no such possibility, and it was merely the Maoists' propaganda.

He said that the government had sought clarification from Katawal on the issues in which the government itself was to blame. The Maoists are spreading baseless rumours about military coup, people's supremacy and nationalism for their own vested interests, he said.

Paudel urged the government to manage the Maoist combatants before promulgating the new constitution and said, “The new constitution can not be written without managing the combatants.” Paudel said democracy was at risk because of Maoists' attempts to capture state power and reluctance to give up politics of violence .