Kathmandu, March 2:

Main opposition Nepali Congress (NC) leaders today asked the government to summon winter session of the legislature parliament at the earliest.

In an informal meeting held at the residence of party president Girija Prasad Koirala in Maharajgunj today, the NC office bearers accused the government of moving ahead unilaterally by flouting the parliamentary process after the prorogation of the House on January 19.

“The government is trying to escape the winter session and call summer session later. It will not be acceptable for the NC,” said party vice president Ram Chandra Paudel after the meeting.

A meeting of 18-political parties out of the 25 represented in the Constituent Assembly (CA) on February 9 had called the Prime Minister to call the winter session at the earliest.

In today’s meeting, the NC leaders expressed serious objection to the government’s tendency to make ‘haphazard and unilateral’ decisions in blatant breach of the parliamentary values.

“The Maoists have shown a ‘fascist’ behaviour and the NC will stand against it,” Paudel said. He said that NC expressed serious objection to the government’s decision to announce martyrs ‘arbitrarily’. The government on Friday declared over 7,000 people killed during the conflict as martyrs. NC will also oppose the Maoists’ attempt to form a commission on missing people unilaterally, Paudel said. He also accused the government of being intolerant to the press. “The government has jailed journalist Rishi Dhamala without any concrete evidence. It shows the government’s intention to terrorise the media.”

Today’s meeting also discussed on the purposed names of candidates for the by-election, which is going to be held on April 10 in six constituencies, said central member Dr Ram Sharan Mahat. As of yet, district working committees of Morang and Kaski had sent prospective names for the candidacy, he informed. The by-election will be held in one constituency each in Dhanusha, Kanchanpur, Kaski and Rolpa and two constituencies in Morang.