Janakpurdham, May 21

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal today stressed on cooperation among all parties to make the second phase of local level elections successful.

Speaking at the anniversary celebration programme of Janakpur Today in Janakpur, the PM said constitution amendment was a must to make the charter acceptable to all. “The constitution has institutionalised many achievements of past political struggles. There are still some issues to be addressed, and successfully conducting the local level election is the current struggle,” he said.

“As the first phase of local polls has gone well, it’s now the duty of all forces that support and seek change to ensure that the second phase is also held successfully,” he said.

Further, informing about his party’s stance that there should be two provinces in the plains and a total of 10 provinces in the entire country, Dahal highlighted his party’s struggle for the rights of backward and marginalised communities.

“I’m also elected from the Madhes. In fact, the government under my leadership has worked more for Madhesis and marginalised communities than any other party,” he said. Dahal added that the process of ratifying the statute amendment bill would move forward once the political situation became favourable.

“The government has formally taken ahead the process of providing compensation and/or treatment expenses for the injured in the Madhes agitation, declaring the dead as martyrs, distributing relief and freeing those in detention,” he said, adding, “As for increasing the number of local bodies in the Madhes, the government will do its best to fulfil this demand of the agitating parties by today.”

Federal Socialist Forum-Nepal Chairperson Upendra Yadav urged the government to fulfil their demands before second phase polls. “As constitution amendment bill requires two-third majority in Parliament for ratification, the government must make sure that our other concerns are addressed before the polls,” he said. Yadav also called on people to defeat anti-Madhes leaders through their votes.

“Our party has been struggling from the streets as well as the Parliament. All Madhes-based parties should field a common candidate to defeat anti-Madhes forces in the upcoming polls,” he argued.

Rastriya Janata Party Nepal’s Mahendra Raya Yadav underscored the need for an alliance among all Madhes-based parties against biased state power. “We indirectly helped the government to successfully conduct the first phase of election; now it’s up to the government to create favourable environment for us to take part in second phase polls,” he said.