Top leaders of three major parties have agreed, in principle, to hold local elections by April-May in a bid to break the political deadlock.

They have also agreed to keep the constitution amendment bill, which has become the source of the recent political stalemate, inactive in order to create an environment for polls.

The amendment bill, registered by the government on November 29, has widened rift between the governing and opposition parties.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal had invited the top leaders at Baluwatar to discuss political situation and seek a way out to present crisis.

With the agitating Madhes-based parties, at whose insistence the amendment bill was introduced, refusing to take ownership and main opposition outright rejecting the amendment proposal and resorting to House obstructions, the government is hard-pressed to resolve the crisis.

Now, amid indications from the Madhes-based parties that they could participate in the polls, major parties have decided to take the country to elections rather than focusing on constitution amendment, an agenda which has been vehemently opposed by the UML.

The UML has repeatedly said that it will not let the House function unless the government withdraws the bill. Continued House obstruction could affect passage of poll-related bills, without which elections will not be possible.

A senior leader from a party in the government said that the UML has expressed readiness to lift House obstruction if the proposal floated during Tuesday’s meeting is turned into an agreement.

During the meeting, Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba called for holding local polls in the present set-up, saying that elections under the new

set-up after demarcating local units could bring further problems.

The parties have agreed to declare the dates for local elections soon after further discussions, UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli said after the meeting. “We agreed to bring laws required for polls at the earliest,” Oli said, adding that he proposed that the amendment bill be kept inactive. Deuba is learnt to have said in the meeting that the amendment proposal will not be withdrawn.

During Tuesday’s meeting, PM Dahal had requested Oli not to continue street protests.

In the meantime, the Rastriya Prajatantra Party, the largest force in Parliament, and the Samytuka Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha, an alliance of seven agitating Madhes-based parties, are also deliberating the prospects of local elections under the existing structure.