KATHMANDU, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The Nepal government on Tuesday formed a task force to hold a dialogue with Netra Bikram Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal which was outlawed by the incumbent government in March 2019.
The two-member task force led by Minister for Home Affairs Ram Bahadur Thapa has Rajan Bhattarai, a foreign affairs advisor of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, as its member.
"The dialogue will start very soon," Minister for Communication and Information Technology, Parbat Gurung, who is also a government spokesperson, said in a press meet on Tuesday. "We will bring the party into mainstream politics through a dialogue."
Immediately after the government's announcement, the Chand-led party also issued a statement announcing a two-member task force led by Khadga Bahadur Biswokarma, the party's spokesperson, and Uday Chalaaune as its member.
Prime Minister Oli had been making public statements for the last one week that his government will hold dialogue with the Biplab-led party and bring it to mainstream politics. The incumbent government banned the party in March 2019, calling it a criminal after the party orchestrated two blasts in Kathmandu, killing one and injuring several others.
Two months later in May 2019, four people were killed in a series of blasts by the armed outfit in different parts of Nepal's capital. Talking to the journalists, Minister Gurung said the government is yet to lift the ban on Chand's party.
"However, the government is positive towards lifting the ban," he said. "The further move of the government will depend on how the dialogue moves ahead."
