Madhesi Leaders Leave for Delhi for Talks on Nepal Crisis

Kathmandu: Senior leaders from the Indian-origin Madhesi community protesting against Nepal's new Constitution today left for New Delhi to meet top Indian leadership including Prime Minister Narendra Modi for political consultations to resolve the ongoing crisis.

The senior leaders of Joint Madhesi Morcha who left for Delhi include Mahantha Thakur, president of Terai Madhes Democratic Party; Upendra Yadav, president of Madhesi Peoples Rights Forum-Nepal; Rajendra Mahato, president of Sadbhawana Party; and Mahendra Yadav, president of Terai Madhes Sadbhawana Party.

On Saturday, they held a crucial meeting with Nepal's major political parties including main opposition Nepali Congress and ruling alliance members CPN-UML and Unified CPN-Maoist to discuss ways to resolve the ongoing crisis facing the country.

During the meeting, they had presented their 11-point demand to the major political parties, who in turn proposed their three-point agenda to address the current political stalemate.

The Joint Madhesi Morcha leaders are likely to hold crucial talks with Prime Minister Modi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and other senior leaders regarding the ongoing agitation in southern Nepal and ways to resolve the issue.

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The three-point solution proposed to forward constitution amendment Bill in the Parliament, to form an all party political committee to resolve the issue relating to re-demarcation of the provincial boundary and asking the Madhesi parties to withdraw their agitation in the Nepal-India border points that has severely hit supply of essential goods.

The Madhesi parties have launched agitation protesting against the new constitution for the past three months. Their major demands include re-demarcation of the boundary, inclusion of proportionate representation and allocation of Parliament seats on the basis of population.

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Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Kamal Thapa today said transport and supply management would be smoother as the obstacles seen at the Nepal-India border and "undeclared blockade" imposed by India would end soon.

During the meeting of the Social Justice and Human Rights Committee under the Legislature-Parliament, Mr Thapa said he was hopeful and confident that the problems would be resolved soon due to his recent talks with Indian leaders.

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Mr Thapa had returned home after meeting Ms Swaraj and other officials in Delhi during his brief visit to India.

Stating that the Nepali people have been facing hardships due to economic and humanitarian crisis amid agitation by the Madhes-based political parties and blockade in the Nepal-India border, Mr Thapa said that initiatives were underway to resolve the problems through political and diplomatic channels.

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Formal and informal meetings were held in different phases to resolve the existing problems, he said, adding that the government, main opposition party as well as other political parties have taken strong initiatives to address the demands put forth by Madhes-centric parties.

He also claimed that the differences with the agitating Madhesi parties are narrowing down. The common proposal presented by the three major parties has addressed the key demands of the agitating parties, he said.

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Mr Thapa added that it was a great achievement itself to prepare a common proposal by the ruling and opposition parties to address the demands of Madhes-based parties.

The Foreign Minister also informed the Parliamentary committee that talks were underway with different countries including China to find out alternatives to the problem surfaced in supply and added that the world has praised Nepal's new Constitution, saying it was inclusive and democratic.