Deputy General Secretary of the main opposition CPN-UML Bishnu Rimal has claimed that the people will vote for UML rather than the ragtag ruling coalition.
He went ahead and added that the parties in the ruling coalition are scared to contest the local election all alone. "Madhav Nepal apparently said in his report that there will be coalition on one side and UML on the other. That much is clear because UML is strong enough alone," Rimal said in a video interview with Setopati. "What we will tell the people is it is us who will give stability. Not give stability through ragtag collection (sic). We will therefore ask them to vote for us for change."
He pointed that UML will ask the people to look for the changes the party brought about around their homes and ruled out alliance with Nepali Congerss (NC). " NC and UML are competitors. The two cannot ally and will compete independently. Other parties will go this side or that depending on their wish. Madhav Nepal's party has yet to be formed on top of that and we need not ally. Pushpa Kamal Dahal and others have left leaving a government of two-third majority. We don't have to ally for them. They have not even talked about alliance with us. They have mingled with Congress. We are now in a strategic plan for the party. We are not in the game for alliance," Rimal elaborated ruling out alliance with any party.
He also took a dig at ruling NC for being scared about contesting alone in the local election. "Madhav Nepal and Dahal does not have the ability to contest all alone. NC feels it's uncertain what may happen while contesting alone. NC needs them and they need NC. Nobody has the guts to contest the election alone."
He claimed that UML has not told anyone to come for alliance or not come, and the party is moving forward on its agenda. "We have fought the election alone even yesterday. We will do that even now and we will think if any friends say they want to participate and move forward in unison. No party has asked us for alliance till date."
He revealed that the party's cadres are collecting the details about difficulties faced while running the local government and the works they have done. "We are comparing works done at the bodies where we have won with those at where we are in minority, we have lost and others have won. We are preparing our agendas accordingly."
He pointed how the situation was similar even during the last local election. "NC and Maoist Center had allied. They (Maoists) came to ally with us after that alliance lost. They have plundered the people's mandate after we together created a new mandate, and Maoist Center and Madhav Nepal who left us are together creating trouble."
He also spoke about the protest by UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli about the Election Commission printing green ballots pointing that green is the color of NC's election symbol tree. "Our chairman has just put his curiosity about why the ballots are green. He has asked whether it has been made green as it is the color of tree or there is any other technical reason. We can see conspiracies all around now. It's due to that. The Election Commission probably will clarify to us because that is it's responsibility and we are the largest party."
