KATHMANDU: Madhesi Janaadhikar Forum, which had decided on Thursday to join the new government led by Madhav Kumar Nepal, is undecided on who would lead the party in the new government.

Despite the unwillingness of party president Upendra Yadav, MJF had taken the decision to join the government following huge pressure from the lawmakers.

Party president Yadav and parliamentary party leader Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar have staked claim to lead the party in the new government.

Leaders today held an informal meeting to deicide the contentious issue but failed to make any headway, as both factions remained firm on their stands.

Speaking to this daily, MJF leader Ram Janam Chaudary refused to divulge the details of the meeting, saying it was an informal meeting. Parliamentary party leader Gachhadar has been saying he would lead the party in the next government following the decision of PP meeting.

MJF spokesperson Jitendra Dev also backed the Gachhadar’s claim. Speaking at a program today, Dev said, “Central committee should respect the decision of the parliamentary party.”

According to a leader, Yadav will not let Gachhadar to lead party’s panel in the House.

“In case Yadav does not get to lead the party in the House, he will put someone else at the helm in the cabinet instead of Gachhadar,” a leader close to Yadav said.

However, all central committee members have agreed that new faces, including women, Muslims and leaders from marginalised communities should be sent to the government from MJF, a central member said. Today’s informal meeting also dwelt on the content of the common minimum programme of the new government and the number of the MJF ministers in the new cabinet. According to an MJF source, the party will stake claim to six ministerial berths in the new government.

MJF’s Thursday meeting had formed a five-member team to hold talks with UML leadership about the formation of the government, with MJF chairperson as coordinator. Other members of the team are co-chairperson Jaya Prakash Prasad Gupta, general secretary Ram Shaya Yadav, PP leader Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar and leader Sharad Singh Bhandari.

The talks team is schedule to hold talks with the UML leadership tomorrow.