Kathmandu, June 20 :

Leaders of the CPN-Maoist and UML today locked horns over the incident in Parbat where the Maoists have appointed one of their cadres as the acting president of the District Development Committee (DDC).

According to a report, the Maoists took over the DDC office and appointed Bishnu Lamichhane, a deputy-chief of the United Revolutionary People’s Council, as the acting president amidst a public programme there.

Dinanath Sharma, a Maoist leader and member of the rebels’ talks team, said the Parbat incident was only an “intervention against monopoly.” He was addressing a programme at the Reporters’ Club.

“All the Maoist cadres wanted in Parbat was collaboration from the members of the DDC. The members of the committee refused to hold discussions on the local development budget when Maoist cadres requested them to do so. The members said they don’t need to discuss the matter with anybody and the intervention took place.”

He said joint committees should be formed at local levels to solve the problem and see to it that all the sectors are represented in the local development works.

UML leader Jhala Nath Khanal, however, said the Maoists are not following the 8-point understanding and are still “misbehaving’ with members of the local bodies.