BHAKTAPUR: Senior leader of CPN (UML) Madhav Kumar Nepal has said that there was no alternative to moving ahead for fresh elections to the Constituent Assembly (CA) after fixing the number of constituencies and completing the registration of biometric voters’ name list.

Speaking at an interaction programme organized by UML affiliated Intellect Council in Bhaktapur, leader Nepal said the dissenting political parties should be brought into consensus before conducting the CA polls.

He reiterated that the UML could forge an alliance with the like-minded political parties in the elections. The UML should take initiative to welcome the dissenting leaders from the UCPN (Maoist), the UML leader added.

He also cautioned the UML leaders not become closer with the UCPN (Maoist) as that was weakening the party.

The oppositions—mainly the Nepali Congress and CPN (UML)—are organizing a rally from Bhrikutimandap this afternoon and the rally will pass through different parts of the town before converting in to a protest meeting at Basantapur.

NC general secretary Prakash Man Singh and UML Vice-chairman Bamdev Gautam, and other second-rung leaders of the opposition parties are addressing the meeting.

The opposition parties are scheduled to organize a photo exhibition of the martyrs where selected photos of those killed by the Maoist during the insurgency would be displayed, UML leader Krishna Gopal Shrestha said.

The opposition parties are organizing a mass meeting on 8 February in the capital as a show of strength against the government.