KATHMANDU:

Nepali Congress (Democratic) general secretary Bimalendra Nidhi said on Saturday that NC president Girija Prasad Koirala expressed willingness to go for a republican order in a meeting with NC (D) President Sher Bahadur Deuba on Wednesday. “Girijababu (Prime Minister Koirala) expressed commitment to go for a republican order during the talks on Wednesday. But, he has declined to have it on unification papers,” Nidhi told The Himalayan Times.

Nidhi said that the NC (D) delegation raised the agenda of going for a republican order once the parties are unified just because the NC (D) has already committed itself to a republican order. “To this extent, the unification of the two parties will be an ideological unification as well,” Nidhi said, adding, “Girijababu has agreed to have a republican order in the party manifesto.”