Ahead of his India visit for a health check-up, Chairman of the Tarai Madhes Loktantrik Party Mahantha Thakur called on Indian Ambassador Ranjit Rae on Sunday and discussed the status of the ongoing talks between the three major parties and the agitating Tarai-centric parties.

During the meeting, a TMLP leader said, the Indian envoy stressed on finding a solution to the dispute by Tuesday.

Parliament business will resume on Tuesday to discuss the amendment bills tabled by the government to address the demands raised by the Tarai-centric parties.

The three major parties— CPN-UML, UCPN (Maoist) and Nepali Congress—have agreed to amend the constitution as per the spirit of the Interim Constitution on the matters like inclusive proportional representation and redraw the electoral constituencies on the basis of population and geography. They have also expressed readiness to address the issues related to citizenship.

Indian Ambassador Rae told Thakur that the step taken by the three parties was positive and that it was up to the Tarai-based parties to show some flexibility at this point.

The TMLP chairman said that some proposals forwarded by the three parties were encouraging. He added that the parties were currently in a process of finalising the terms and references of the proposed political mechanism that will deal with the issue of federal set-up.

It is our heir demand that the past recommendations and agreements, including the report submitted by the state restructuring committee and the 22-point understanding reached between the government and the Madhes-based parties, are well-considered when the proposed political mechanism makes its decision.

Ambassador Rae said India will always stand for consensus. Only continuous dialogue will produce concrete results, he told Thakur.