Madhesi and Janajati groups affiliated with the Sanghiya Gathabandhan are considering more Kathmandu-centric protests after the conclusion of their first round of demonstrations with a sit-in at Shanti Batika, Ratnapark, on Wednesday.

Hundreds of protesters picketed the PM’s official residence in Baluwatar on the third day of their Capital-centred agitation on Tuesday, chanting slogans against the government and the new constitution.

Leaders said a majority of the parties in the alliance are for giving continuity to the protest to keep sustained pressure on the government to address their demands.

“Gathabandhan allies are meeting on Wednesday to figure out ways to strengthen the protest plan. Everyone is positive about giving continuity to the stir,” said Ashok Rai, senior leader of the Sanghiya Samajbadi Forum Nepal.

The agitating leaders observed that the first round of protests in Kathmandu was successful in bringing the waning Madhes movement back to the limelight. They also argue that the four days of peaceful protest had drawn greater sympathy from civil society, media and the international community than the five-month long siege of the Nepal-India border.

“This was achieved without any bloodshed. We surely can gather more support if all of us focus wholeheartedly on Kathmandu,” said a Janajati leader in the alliance.

Some Madhesi leaders are still sceptical about giving continuity to the Kathmandu-centric protest in the lack of a popular support base. Although several indigenous parties and ethnic groups are in the alliance, they do not have a good cadre base. There was negligible participation of Newars and Tamangs, two major ethnic groups residing in and around the Valley.

The agitating parties have proposed leaving the protests in Kathmandu to the Janajati groups, while focusing their attention on the Tarai, the Madhesi heartland.