President of opposition Nepali Congress and former Prime Minister, Girija Prasad Koirala, has said the policy of national unity and reconciliation formulated by his late brother and first popularly elected prime minister, B P Koirala, was still relevant.

Addressing a function organized at the NC’s central office at Sanepa, Lalitpur on the occasion of the 29th National Reconciliation Day Friday, Koirala urged all forces to think over the measures to give a way out to the nation battered by anarchy.

He said `people power’ was more powerful than the gun and that all should keep people at the center of their activities. He also reiterated that revival of the dissolved House of Representatives was the only way out to break the long-running political impasse in the country.

“Nepali Congress will not attend the round table conference called by the King as parliament is the only place where all the constitutional forces can come together,” said the octogenarian leader. He even alleged that it was part of a conspiracy to trap the NC.

Some people are trying to obstruct the prospects of reinstatement of the dissolved parliament in the name of peace, he added. He did not elaborate.

The function was organized to commemorate the return to Nepal of late B P Koirala, along with his colleague, Ganesh Man Singh, and other party cadres December 30, 1976 from exile in India.

Late Koirala had said unity between the King and democratic forces was a must to avoid the country from turning into a playground of foreign forces. nepalnews.com pd Dec 31 04