The parties have said the purpose of the agitation is to build pressure on the ruling parties for promulgating a “progressive constitution through consensus”.

A meeting of the bloc decided to hit the streets as well as continue talks with the ruling Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML. The two parties have prepared their position that the opposition should cancel its protest programme for the talks to go ahead. The alliance has also decided to obstruct the voting process on contentious issues in the Constituent Assembly.

This is the first time that the parties have come up with a protest programme after the election of the second CA last year. The stir has further alienated the ruling parties.

The opposition will demonstrate in 75 districts against the NC and the UML on January 3. On January 19, three days before the statute deadline, it has called a nationwide strike. At the meeting of the alliance, UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal said the ruling parties were not ready for consensus. UML Chairman KP Oli’s opposition on Friday to the proposed protest has riled the front.

Bitter verbal exchanges between Oli and Dahal in the past few days hint at the soured relations between the ruling and opposition parties. The constitution drafting process has been stalled for the last three months.

The ruling parties are preparing to respond to the protest plan on Tuesday.