Kathmandu – Normal life came to a standstill in eastern Nepal due to a strike called by the CPN-Maoist, a breakaway faction of the UCPN (Maoist) on Friday.
The CPN-Maoist cadres halted public transport service, closed shops, factories, educational institutes in all major cities and towns of eastern Nepal early morning.
The Mohan Baidya-led Maoist faction says the strike is to protest against their exclusion from the constitution writing process.
The CPN-Maoist did not take part in the second Constituent Assembly (CA) elections held in November 2013. Baidya's cadres had also set public vehicles ablaze to disrupt the second CA elections.
As the 22 January deadline to promulgate the new constitution nears, the Baidya-led faction has announced protests against the statute drafting.
Meanwhile, lawmakers from the ruling NC and the UML on Friday started a signature campaign to exert pressure on their top leaders to start process for promulgating the new constitution on the basis of two-thirds strength.
The campaign was started a day after the major political parties decided to forward the disputed issues of constitution once again to the Constitutional Political Dialogue and Consensus Committee (CPDCC) of the CA.
The CPDCC has been asked to sort out the contentious issues of constitution before 13 January.
Lawmakers involved in the signature campaign said they will wait until 13 January to start protest programs in front of the CA building o promulgate the new statute within the deadline.