It has 39 members in the assembly

An alliance of Madhes-based political parties on Wednesday withdrew its support to the Prachanda-led Nepal government after it failed to meet a seven-day ultimatum to fulfil their demands that included endorsement for the revised Constitution Amendment bill.

The United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF), which has 39 lawmakers, withdrew support.

The government, however, continues to enjoy a majority as it has the support of more than 320 members in the 601-member Constituent Assembly.

Meanwhile, in a meeting with UDMF leaders, Prachanda urged them to participate in the upcoming local polls after amending the Constitution, setting aside the issue of State delineation for the time being. He said the government would form a commission to finalise the issues relating to provincial demarcation before holding the provincial elections.

The UDMF on March 7 had issued the ultimatum to address their concerns that include re-demarcation of the provincial boundary and liberal citizenship policy among others. It has been demanding government’s endorsement for revised Constitution Amendment bill and withdrawal of the decision to conduct local polls in May. IT said that it could not support the government as it had been preparing to hold local level polls without addressing the issues raised by them.