• 32 cadres of the party held
• protest to continue till they are released

Rajbiraj, May 30

Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal staged a sit-in in front of the Rajbiraj-based Chief Election Officer’s Office in Saptari today.

The agitating RJP-N warned that they would not participate in the second phase of civic polls and also obstruct it, if the government tried to hold elections forcibly without first addressing the party’s demands.

The party’s central leaders participated in today’s sit-in where they chanted slogans against the government.

Their demands include amendment to the constitution and increase in the number of local levels based on population, among others.

Stating that they had so far held rounds of discussion on their demands with the government, the agitating leaders said the government had yet to take concrete steps towards implementing past agreements. They also demanded implementation of those accords.

RJP-N Saptari Coordinator Sunil Kumar Jha said their protest programme would continue and warned that the elections could not be held in the Madhes in the existing situation. “The party will strongly protest if the polls are held forcibly in Madhes,” he added.

A cabinet meeting held yesterday decided to postpone the June 14 elections to June 23, with the aim of ensuring the participation of the RJP-N in civic polls. An official response from the RJP-N is yet to come in this regard.

In another incident, police arrested as many as 32 RJP-N cadres, including four women, while they were trying to padlock the Chief Election Officer’s Office in Gaur, Rautahat today.  RJP-N cadres padlocked the offices of election officers in Aaurahi, Pipara, Samshi and Bardibas of Mahottari district. However, security personnel unlocked those offices except for the Bardibas-based office.

Last Friday, the RJP-N had unveiled its protest programme  to obstruct activities related to polls. As part of the protest programme, it has called a general strike for June 1 and 2 in the Madhes, Tharuhat and Limbuhan regions.