Rabiraj, September 29:

Maoist brigade commissar and regional bureau in-charge Laxman Tharu “Roshan “ who broke away from the CPN-Maoist today accused Maoist chairman Prachanda and his second-in-command Dr Baburam Bhattarai of having deviated from the Maoist ideology.

Talking to mediapersons here, Tharu said, “They are wrangling for cuts in the form of naming their own deputy prime minister and diplomats to other countries.” Tharu broke away from the Maoists to form the Tharu Rastriya Mukti Morcha with himself as its president. He said his party had launched a struggle with a 23-point charter of demands including holding the constituent assembly polls under a proportional representation system on the basis of population, declaration of an autonomous Tharu state and a roundtable ahead of the polls. Saying that his party was not against the polls, Tharu said, “The polls should be meaningful.”

Tharu warned that if the government did not accede to their demands, they would resort to

an armed struggle. He added that the Young Tharu League is being formed for the purpose. “We torched copies of the interim constitution and have declared 25 districts of the Tarai a Tharu Federal State. Now, we are planning to call an indefinite bandh in those districts.”