Top leaders of the Samyukta Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha (SLMM) headed for New Delhi on Sunday to attend a programme in the Indian capital. 

Tarai Madhes Loktantrik Party leader Mahanta Thakur and his deputy Hridayesh Tripathi, Sanghiya Samajbadi Forum Nepal Chair Upendra Yadav, among others, will participate in a discussion to be organised by the Nepal Bharat Mahila Maitri Samaj.

Also attending the programme are Civil society members, including Daman Nath Dhungana, Bijaya Kanta Karna. Sadbhawana Chairman Rajendra Mahato, however, is not on the visiting team. 

Morcha leaders are also expected to hold political meetings with the Indian establishment in New Delhi. The visiting leaders said that nothing has been decided about political meeting without denying the possibilities of such meetings. 

The planned visit has been looked meaningfully as Morcha leaders are struggling to decide their next move in anticipation of a possible government change after the Nepali Congress General Convention. The SLMM Central Secretariat, which was assigned to formulate further protest programmes, has proposed a fresh protest from mid-April.

In a memorandum submitted to Prime Minister KP Oli last week, the Morcha had threatened to launch a general strike across the Tarai plains if their demands, including the revision of federal boundaries, are not met. 

Rajendra Shrestha, co-chair of the Sanghiya Samajbadi Forum Nepal, said the second rung leaders were making preparations for the protest. “A joint meeting of top leaders will endorse the proposal with some changes after returning from New Delhi,” said Shrestha, who is also a member of the central secretariat. The leaders are expected to return Kathmandu on March 15.