Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has assured Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal (RJP-N) leaders that he would address the agitating party’s demands after the second phase of local elections scheduled for June 28.

During a meeting with two top RJP-N leaders—Mahantha Thakur and Anil Kumar Jha—PM Deuba urged them to give him some time.

Thakur and Jha also drew PM Deuba’s attention to what they said attacks on RJP-N activists and arrests of some of its supporters in the Tarai region where the party has been protesting against the second phase of elections. 

PM Deuba is also learnt to have told the RJP-N leaders that the party’s other political demands would be addressed by the Cabinet. 

The RJP-N, a unified force of six Madhes-based parties, has been demanding constitution amendment, an increase in the number of local units in the Tarai region and withdrawal of fake cases filed against different persons in relation to the Tharuhat and Madhes movements, among others. 

An earlier government decision to increase local units in Tarai districts has been stayed by the court. And with elections in Province 1, 5 and 7 already set for June 28, it is yet to be seen how the RJP-N’s demand of increasing local units can be addressed. 

Elections in Province 2 have been postponed until September 18. 

The RJP-N has refused to participate in the local elections, saying its demands are yet to be addressed. 

The RJP-N had voted for Deuba in the prime ministerial election held on June 7 after reaching a three-point deal which required the Deuba government to address its demands. A similar deal had been reached in August last year as per which then prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal had promised to address the Madhes-based parties’ concerns. 

A revised constitution amendment bill was registered in Parliament during Dahal’s tenure. Deuba succeeded Dahal in the first week of June, but the Madhes-based parties say their demands still remain where they were, as “no headway has been made”. 

During the meeting, Thakur is learnt to have told the PM Deuba, also the president of the Nepali Congress, that Madhes-based parties were losing faith in the Congress party with which they shared “good relations in the past”.