KATHMANDU, JUNE 22

Senior leader of Democratic Socialist Party-Nepal Rajendra Mahato says that there should be a broader coalition of all marginalised groups and communities - Madhesi, Janajati, Tharu, Muslim and Dalit - to launch a broader national movement for making the country a plurinational state.

Prithvi Narayan Shah launched the unified Nepal campaign, but that unification was basically geographical. Madhesi, Janajati and other marginalised groups have not been able to get their rightful share in the state organs, Mahato said, and added that unless all communities and groups got their rights, Nepal could not be a unified country.

Prithvi Narayan Shah's maxim ' Nepal char barna ra chhatis jatko phulbari ho' means all Nepalis have equal rights in the country, but since PN Shah's time only one ethnic group - the ruling class - has monopolised opportunities and resources in the country, he argued.

Mahato said that Madhesis fought for their rights during the constitution making process and India's moral support to the Madhesi people was dismissed as India backed the movement. "India had extended moral support to democratic forces in 1990 and 2006 popular movement but at that time political leaders did not blame India for its support," he added.

Mahato said their effort would be to rally the support of all marginalised groups and communities to build a momentum for a broader movement. "We hope to unite all marginalised communities in the next five years to launch a common movement," he said.

Rise of independent candidate Balen Shah in Kathmandu and other independent candidates in other parts of the country indicated that people wanted to support an alternative force and coalition among marginalised communities and groups could help create an alternative force.

Mahato said that his party had been invited by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and CPN- UML Chair KP Sharma Oli to join their alliance for provincial and parliamentary polls, but the party had not taken a call yet.

On the question of merger with Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal, Mahato said that his party had helped JSP-N Chair Upendra Yadav avert imminent split a few months ago but he betrayed their goodwill by splitting the JSP-N.

Now, again, Yadav is in minority in the party. We may unify with the JSP-N but the majority group sans Yadav," Mahato said.

He said communist forces were biggest obstacle to progress as they always whip up anti-India slogans. "Nepal should have better relations with India for trade and hydro power cooperation. If we can generate energy with Indian investment and if we can sell hydel energy to India and to Bangladesh through India, we can achieve goals of prosperity in a few years," Mahato said.

He said the millennium challenge corporation deal that Nepal signed with the United States of America offered a good case for Nepal to seek assistance to achieve the goals of development.

"If China provides grant assistance for BRI projects, we should go for it but we should not seek loan under BRI projects," he added.

A version of this article appears in the print on June 23, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.