CPN-UML lawmaker Bishal Bhattara has demanded that the government withdraw the arrest warrant issued against Communist Party of Nepal General Secretary Netra Bikram Chand.

Speaking at a meeting of the House of Representatives on Tuesday, lawmaker Bhattarai urged the government to withdraw the arrest warrant issued against Chand among other leaders of his party immediately.

Saying that the Chand group has already chosen a path of Nepali politics in a peaceful way, the government should encourage Chand among other leaders instead of taking action against them.

“We have heard that the government has sent a letter to take action against Communist Party of Nepal General Secretary Chand among other leaders of his party,” he said, adding, “If the news in the media is correct, the government should immediately roll back its decision.”

The then KP Sharma Oli-led government had brought the Chand group, which had once adopted violent means to get their demands addressed, into mainstream politics by forging a three-point agreement.

Instead of giving continuity to the works of the Oli government, the coalition government has been compelling the group to choose the path of violence again, he said.