STUDENT LEADER INJURED IN CAPITAL SHOOT BREAKING NEWS Kathmandu, 8 June: Basanta Shahi of All Nepal National Free Students Union (ANNFSU) was shot and criticallyin a shooting incident at Shorakhutta bin thecapital Friday morning. He’s undergoing treatment at the TUTH in Maharajgunj. Shahi is the Amrit Science College, is voce-chairman of Amrit Science College unit of ANNFSU affiliated with UML. The shooting comes even as police Thursday relased a sketch of the suspected murder of Supreme Court Justice Rana Bahadur Bam 31 May. No arrests have been made after Bam was murdered 31 May while two others were injured. Shootings ar now regular occurrences in the capital an indicates armed criminals are niw active in Kathmandu and weapons are freely available. nnnn. MAOIST ESTABLISHMENT MEETS Kathmandu, 8 June: Maoist establishment held discussions and reviewed the currnt situation at a meeting in Paris Danda. The meeting was held as opposition comes out on the street for anti-government protests and a rebel faction led by Mohan Baidhaya has threatened a split at a national meet. Chairman Prachanda and Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai were present at the Friday morning meet. nnnn TWO TOP MAOST LEADERS WOO OPPOSITION LEADERS FURTHER DETAILS Kathmandu, 8 June: Top leaders of UCPN-Maoist intensified bilateral talks with former prime ministers and top leaders of different political parties to search for national consensus to end the ongoing political deadlock, The Rising Nepal reports . Former prime minister and Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ Thursday met former prime minister and CPN-UML chairman Jhalanath Khanal and urged him to start the consensus politics. Similarly, Prime Minister and Maoist vice-chairman Dr. Baburam Bhattarai met former Prime ministers Surya Bahadur Thapa and Lokendra Bahadur Chand separately and urged them for help to create an environment for political consensus to give a way out to the nation. The meeting between Prachanda and Khanal held at Khanal’s residence at Dallu centered on the ongoing political deadlock. During the meeting, Prachanda requested Khanal to go for new elections by joining the Bhattarai-led government. After the meeting, Dahal said that he requested Khanal to move ahead by forging consensus among the political parties. He said that Khanal was also positive about starting consensus politics and added that the disputes could be resolved through consensus. On the occasion, Khanal said that the UCPN-Maoist should take the initiative to forge a national consensus. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai urged former prime minister and chairman of the Rastriya Janashakti Party, Surya Bahadur Thapa, to help end the political deadlock by supporting the government. During the meeting, Dr. Bhattarai said that he was ready to quit the government after finding national consensus. At the meeting held at Thapa’s residence in Maligaun, the Prime Minister said that the declaration of fresh elections to the Constituent Assembly (CA) was a compulsion after the CA dissolution. After the meeting, Thapa said that the prime minister asked him to support in holding the CA elections. Thapa told reporters that he suggested to the Prime Minister that he should initiate talks with the opposition parties by tendering his resignation. He said the Prime Minister should play a vital role to end the trust deficit among the political parties. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Dr. Bhattarai also met former Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand and urged him to support the government’s move to hold elections. The PM said that the government was trying to reach a national consensus and urged him to play the role in forging a national consensus. During the meeting, Chand urged the prime minister to bring a consensus roadmap for the parties to reach a national consensus. Nnnn Kathmandu, June 7 The 22 opposition political parties Thursday said that all the preparations for their June 8 mass meeting were completed and urged democratic forces to join hands to save democracy and human rights. At press meet, organised by the 22 parties, leaders said that the mass meeting of June 8 was only a trailer and the parties were ready to show the full-length film on the political movement. They said that democracy, republican system and constitution writing process were at peril and stressed that the declaration of the new election was against the constitution and political consensus. In the press meet, NC president Sushil Koirala said that the declaration of new election was against democratic norms and values and added that the government steps were meant to capture the state powers and resources. He urged all democratic forces to unite and fight against the declaration of new election and non-democratic activities of the government. He said that the dissolution of the CA was a plan of the Maoists to create a constitutional crisis to capture the power. CPN-UML chairman Jhalanath Khanal said that the prime minister should resign from the post to start consensus politics and added that the resignation was a pre-condition for this. He said that the Maoists were trying to capture the state powers by creating constitutional and political vacuum and stressed that the democratic forces should unite to save democratic norms and constitutional values through a new movement against the government. He said, "Without the prime minister’s resignation, the parties will never be ready for dialogue with the government." NC vice-president Ram Chandra Poudel said that the declaration of election was not suitable at this time for the Nepalese people. The Maoists had no intention to conclude the CA election, he said. He said that the Maoists were set to break the consensus politics and, if they were not doing so, they should start with the resignation of the prime minister. He also urged the Nepalese people to join the mass meetings to be organized by the 22 parties to protest the declaration of the CA polls by the government. nnnn