Pokhara, December 23:

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs KP Sharma Oli today blamed the Maoists for trying to stymie the constituent assembly (CA) poll.

Inaugurating the third annual general meeting of Rastriya Cooperative Bank Ltd here, Oli said, “The Ma-oists have created obstructions by preventing VDC secretaries from returning to the villages and putting pressure to remove re-established police posts.”

“Though it is stated that the CA poll will be held by mid-June, the Maoists have been barring VDC secretaries from going to the villages for distributing citizenship certificates and preparing the voters’ list for the CA poll,” Oli said.

Urging the Maoists not to obstruct the return of the VDC secretaries to the villages and not to create problems over the issue of re-established police posts, Oli said, “If the Maoists continue creating such disruptions, the CA poll will not be held on time.”

“Minor issues are obstructing major objectives at a time when we are working to hold the CA poll by mid-June,” Oli said, adding, “If the CA polls were not held on time, it will take a long time to draft a new constitution and regressive forces will get a chance to get active again.”

The draft of the interim constitution, formation of an interim government and date of the CA poll will be announced soon, Oli said.

Saying that democracy can be strengthened only after implementing a new constitution, he said.”

Speaking on the occasion, former minister Keshav Badal stressed the need for making the process of registering cooperatives easier in all districts in the country.

Co-chairperson of the Cooperatives Development Board, Haribol Bhattarai and the CDB chairperson Om Prakash Sharma also expressed their views on the occasion.