‘Ruling parties’ view of Madhes stir misguided’

Chitwan, November 10

Former Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai today said the government had failed to resolve the Tarai agitation due to misguided perception that the stir is backed by India.

Speaking at an interaction in Narayangadh today, the former prime minister said the ruling parties had failed to understand the nature of the ongoing Madhes agitation. “The problem lies on the misguided views of the ruling parties,” he reasoned.

“The blockade on the borders and Madhes agitation are two separate issues and the ruling parties need to see them through different lenses. Otherwise, the current attitude of the government would only deepen the mistrust between the agitating and ruling parties,” he added.

He also said that the issue of provincial boundaries, which is the major cause of Madhes agitation, was complicated by a few select leaders, who rode roughshod over all opposition.

“We had thought of resolving the dispute by keeping predominantly Madhesi-populated parts of Morang and Sunsari in the Province No. 2 and the Tharu-majority areas of Kailali and Kanchanpur in Province No. 5, but this could not happen due to the vested interests of a few select leaders,” he revealed.

On a different note, Bhattarai said that the ongoing blockade was causing losses worth billions to the country every day. “The country has suffered a loss of over Rs 600 billion so far, just because of the obstinacy of a few leaders,” he said .

He said a new political force was the need of time. “Many people have accused me of launching the campaign to form a new force at the behest of India. But the Madhes agitation and my campaign have nothing to do with each other,” he said.