Kathmandu, December 25

Member of Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal Presidium Rajendra Mahato said his party could not even think of joining the Nepal Communist Party (NCP)-led government.

“This party has not done anything to address the issues of marginalised communities. That’s why there is no question of joining the government at this stage,” he said and added that his party was watching the government’s moves carefully. “We are carefully watching the government’s move. If its moves are positive, we will behave positively or else we will prepare for movements,” he said and added that the two-point agreement that his party had signed with the ruling NCP was for securing two seats in the National Assembly. “The new two-point agreement helped break the deadlock that arose after we withdrew support given to the ruling party,” Mahato said.

He also said that his party would continue holding unity talks with Samajwadi Party-Nepal after it quit the government yesterday. The RJP-N had stopped unity talks with SP-N for continuing to be a coalition partner in the NCP-led government.

Mahato said there was need to create alternative democratic forces to win the rights for marginalised communities and since RJP-N and SP-N were third and fourth largest forces in the Parliament, it was natural for these two parties to try form an alternative force. Mahato said that in the previous rounds of unity talks with the SP-N, some issues had been resolved but some were yet to be finalised and that unity talks with Samajwadi Party-Nepal would continue.