In view of the third phase of local level elections in Province 2 scheduled for September 18, political parties have started their campaigns.

The Nepali Congress on Thursday organised a provincial gathering of party cadres here in Janakpur. Prime Minister and NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba, senior leader Ram Chandra Poudel, General Secretary Shashank Koirala and Treasurer Sita Devi Yadav, among others, addressed the gathering.

Deuba accused the CPN-UML of being the main hurdle to national unity. “Society has been polarised into Pahadi (people of Hill origin) and Madhesi due to the UML’s ‘Hill nationalism’,” said the NC chief. He also charged that the main opposition created mistrust between the two communities.

The PM said his party was committed to amending the constitution to address the demands of the Madhes-based parties. “Constitution amendment is not only the demand of Madhes. This is the issue of the whole country. The UML should also play a constructive role in amending the constitution,” he said.

Deuba instructed party activists to concentrate wholly on the local elections. “Our party could not achieve expected results during the first and second phases of elections. We must win more than 100 local units here and emerge as the biggest party [overall],” he said.

CPN-UML Secretary Yogesh Bhattarai, who heads the party’s publicity department, is also in Janakpur for the party’s campaign. At an interaction with journalists on Thursday, he accused the NC of attempting to stop the Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal from participating in the local elections.