Kathmandu: A Nepalese lawmaker, who joined
the Maoists after quitting a Terai-based Madhesi party, has
claimed that he was threatened by Indian officials, but the
Indian embassy here dismissed it as "baseless and
irresponsible allegation".
Ram Kumar Sharma, who joined the United CPN-Maoist
after quitting Terai Madhes Democratic Party (TMDP) about a
year ago, alleged that an Indian embassy staffer threatened to
abduct him.
The allegations were splashed in the media after a
Nepali private television channel on Friday night held a
nearly hour-long interview with Sharma.
The Maoists lawmaker also claimed that the Indian
official warned that his daughter would be expelled from the
embassy-run Kendriya Vidyalaya, according to a report in the
myrepublica online, the news website of Republica newspaper.
However, Indian embassy spokesperson Apoorva Srivastav
has dismissed the allegations as "baseless and irresponsible".
"The embassy does not dignify such baseless and
irresponsible allegation," Srivastav was quoted as saying in
the Nepali daily.
Sharma, who has been active in getting the support of
Madhes-based parties for the Maoists supremo Prachanda,
claimed the embassy staffer asked him to "rethink" about his
decision to join the Maoists, the report said.
"Leave the matter of diplomat. I can do whatever I
want to you," Sharma quoted the embassy staffer as saying.
Amid allegations of horse-trading among Nepalese
lawmakers, the political deadlock over the election of new
Prime Minster in Nepal has continued.
Notwithstanding last-minute efforts by India to break
the political standoff, lawmakers yesterday failed in their
fourth bid to elect a new Premier, with Maoist chief Prachanda
and his Nepali Congress rival Ram Chandra Poudyal, failing to
secure a simple majority.
55-year-old Prachanda, a former Prime Minister,
managed to bag only 213 votes while 99 members opposed his
candidature in the poll in the 601-strong Parliament, more
than five weeks after incumbent Madhav Kumar Nepal resigned
following intense Maoist pressure.
Poudyal, 65, also failed to touch the magic figure of
301, receiving just 122 votes in favour and 245 against,
forcing Speaker Subhash Nemwang to announce August 18 as the
date for holding next round of election for the post of Prime
Minister.
Interestingly, 26 Maoist MPs were absent during the
voting and many MPs of other political parties too turned up
late.
India has made it clear that it has no favourites for
the post of prime minister and it was for the political
parties in Nepal to choose a new leader.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh`s special envoy Shyam
Saran, who ended a three-day trip to Kathmandu yesterday, met
top political leaders and called for unity among democratic
forces in the country.
PTI
