Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai Thursday made a formal appeal to all the political parties to reach a consensus at earliest to conduct fresh Constituent Assembly elections in April-May. Addressing the nation in the evening, Bhattarai said his government was ready to make any sacrifice that might be required to hold the elections. He said the government accepted the budget prepared by its predecessor for the sake of consensus when he became Prime Minister. It also decided to bring a one-third budget earlier this fiscal, again for the sake of consensus, he added. "Again this time around, the opposition created obstacles for the the passage of the budget as it is afraid that pro-people programmes will win the support of the public," said the Prime Minister. Bhattarai also recounted the 'achievements' of his government and said the completion of the peace process was by far the most important gain Nepal made in recent times. However, unlike expectations, PM Bhattarai gave no hint that he was stepping down anytime soon. Rumours about his possible resignation did the rounds throughout the day. Maoist sources claimed that the PM "was in a mood to resign", but changed his mind due to "vehement pressure" from Madhesi allies against doing so during the Maoist-Madhesi meeting that went for hours in the afternoon

Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai Thursday made a formal appeal to all the political parties to reach a consensus at earliest to conduct fresh Constituent Assembly elections in April-May.
Addressing the nation in the evening, Bhattarai said his government was ready to make any sacrifice that might be required to hold the elections.
He said the government accepted the budget prepared by its predecessor for the sake of consensus when he became Prime Minister. It also decided to bring a one-third budget earlier this fiscal, again for the sake of consensus, he added.
"Again this time around, the opposition created obstacles for the the passage of the budget as it is afraid that pro-people programmes will win the support of the public," said the Prime Minister.
Bhattarai also recounted the 'achievements' of his government and said the completion of the peace process was by far the most important gain Nepal made in recent times.
However, unlike expectations, PM Bhattarai gave no hint that he was stepping down anytime soon. Rumours about his possible resignation did the rounds throughout the day.
Maoist sources claimed that the PM "was in a mood to resign", but changed his mind due to "vehement pressure" from Madhesi allies against doing so during the Maoist-Madhesi meeting that went for hours in the afternoon.