Leaders of mainstream political parties on Thursday took charge of the ongoing protest in Surkhet district. Locals of the district resorted to the protest since Sunday demanding ‘undivided Mid-West’ with Surkhet as its Capital.

Local leaders of Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and UCPN (Maoist) have joined in the protest that initially commenced at the initiatives of Surkhet denizens

After taking the leadership of the protest, the parties held ‘goodwill rally’ from their respective party offices and marched around the city. The rally later turned into a corner assembly at Buspark.

During the goodwill rally, the participants chanted slogans demanding to create a seventh state with Surkhet as its Capital, grant martyr status to those who died during the protest, provide treatment and compensation to the injured ones and stop the administrative suppression.

UML district Chairman Dhurba Kumar Shahi said they would continue to lobby the political parties to amend their decision in a peaceful manner. He also urged cadres not to participate in the rallies organised independently without involvement or leadership of political parties saying that such unorganised rallies held from Sunday to Wednesday turned violent and led to the death of two people while injuring dozens other.