CPN-UML leaders have said the party’s Mechi-Mahakali Campaign was aimed at “promoting nationalism, integrity and national unity”.

Addressing a mass meeting in Itahari, Sunsari, on Sunday, UML leader Madhav Kumar Nepal said some Madhesi leaders were hell bent on amending the constitution “at the behest of foreigners”. He claimed that the planned charter amendments would go against national interests.

The former PM accused that the government led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal was scared of holding the elections on time, fearing a UML victory. UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli, senior leaders Jhala Nath Khanal and Bamdev Gautam were also present but they did not address the function.

In Damak, Oli said the incumbent government had not executed the plan devised by his Cabinet to extract minerals fearing objections from a neighbouring country, without specifying but apparently referring to India. Saying that the country’s deposits of oil, iron and uranium had not been used, Oli pledged to take initiatives to “develop Nepal for the Nepali people”.