President Ram Baran Yadav has revealed that his call to “unite the country” before promulgating the new constitution was ignored by the erstwhile Sushil Koirala government.

Addressing the inauguration of the seventh NRNA International General Assem-bly and Global Conference-2015 in Kathmandu on Friday, Yadav said he had urged the major political parties to put the process of constitution promulgation on hold for some time in order to bring the disgruntled parties on board. “I was dragged into a controversy when I batted for unity among the people living in the Hills and the plains,” Yadav said. “I was of the view that the process could have been delayed by 10-15 days to address the concerns of the parties opposing the constitutional process.” Nevertheless, Yadav hoped the law of the land would succeed in making the state more participatory and prosperous. He urged the leadership to address the Tarai issue at the earliest.