Kathmandu, February 17:

Leaders of the agitating United Madhesi Democratic Front said today that they would not submit the closed list of the candidates for the proportional system of Constituent Assembly elections to the Election Commission if the government ignores their six-point charter of demands. The front, comprisings Tarai Madhes Democratic Party, Madhesi Janaadhikar Forum and Sadhbhawana Party, will miss the February 20 to submit the closed list as the Madhes-based parties didn’t submit their authorised signatures on February 10 to the Election Commission. The signatures are necessary for submitting candidate lists on Wednesday.

When contacted for comment on the CA poll preparation, Sadbhawana Party chairman Rajendra Mahato said the UMDF was not willing to meet the EC’s February 20 deadline. “We are concentrating only on the Madhes agitation, which will force the ruling alliance to meet our demands in practice,” Mahato said.

According to Mahato, the CA polls shouldn’t be held on April 10 without addressing UMDF’s six-point demands. “It will be an invitation to disaster if the government suppresses the agitation,” Mahato said.

Mahato accused Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala of doublespeak. “PM promised us during the last meeting that he would concede all our six demands but in public he said yesterday that two of our demands could not be met,” Mahato said. He claimed that the Koirala government would not conduct CA polls and also highlighted the need to form a new elected government. Mahato further claimed that more Madhesi members would quit the interim parliament shortly.

The newly formed Tarai Madhes Democratic Party is in no mood to submit the candidates’ list before the deadline. The party is reportedly sans working committees in most of the Tarai districts and may face technical difficulties to finalise the list in two days. TMDP leader Hridayesh Tripathi told this daily that his

party would not go for

election until their demands were met.

Tripathi accused the government of using excessive force to suppress the peaceful Madhes agitation. “The government is hatching conspiracies to defer the CA polls using the Madhes agitation as a pretext,” he said. Tripathi said the talks team was always ready to sit for dialogue with the government if the latter so wanted. He criticised PM’s comment on the UMDF’s six-point charter of demands. “All the demands are genuine, none can be withdrawn,” he added. Tripathi said the ongoing agitation would reach its logical conclusion.

Madhesi Janaadhikar Forum central secretary BP Yadav said Madhesi people wanted a real election. “We can’t participate in such drama. The agitating parties are not aware of the April 10 election schedule,” he added.

“We are always ready for talks but the ball is in the government’s court,” Yadav said. He said they would not sign just on paper but would ascertain legal recognition of their demands. Yadav also accused the home administration of suppressing Madhesi agitation. He claimed that police took away Shyam Sundar Ram from Sagarmatha Zonal hospital last night while he was undergoing treatment after sustaining injury in a police baton charge.

The ongoing Madhes agitation seems to be taking a violent turn as the Kathmandu blockade starts today. Scores of agitators were injured in Tarai districts in clashes with the police. Nepalgunj of Banke district, Rajbiraj of Saptari district, Siraha district, Bhairahawa of Rupandehi district, Jaleshwor of Mahottari district, Birgunj of Parsa district and Bara district remained tense all day. The protesters also padlocked most of the government offices in these districts. The concerned district administration offices imposed curfew in Rajbiraj and Nepalgunj over the past 24 hours. One agitator was also killed in police firing in Nepalgunj today. Normal life was crippled in Tarai districts due to the ongoing indefinite strike. The Madhes agitation caused a negative impact on life in Kathmandu, what with the shortage of fuel and daily use materials spiralling out of hand. The eastern region hilly districts are also facing a food crunch due to the unrest.

The Election Commission may itself face a crisis as its Tarai-based election offices are unable to do their work. A source close to the EC said it hadn’t conducted election-based training in most of the Tarai districts till date.

The Nepal Sadbhawana Party (Anandidevi) yesterday opted out of the ruling seven-party alliance. Party chairperson Anandidevi Singh also resigned from the interim parliament and declared she was going on the path of agitation.

More than 20 armed groups have stepped up violent activities in the Tarai districts. Over the past three days, the Janatantrik Tarai Mukti Morchas (Jwala and Goit) detonated bombs at different places, including the Election Commission’s office in Nepalgunj of Banke.

The Federal Republican National Front has also warned of disrupting the April 10 elections if the government did not accept its demands, including adoption of all-out proportional electoral system by amending the interim constitution. The front has also demanded a federal state with the right to self-determination.

The fragile security situation, shortage of fuel and commodities, Maoists’ threat to grab power and make Prachanda the country’s first president and mistrust among the SPA partners are also challenging the government’s bid to hold the twice deferred CA polls within the stipulated time.