President Ram Baran Yadav called the leaders of major parties to his office for a meeting on Tuesday morning and urged them yet again to bring the budget through consensus.President's political advisor Rajendra Dahal told Nepali Times, "The President is aware that the budget is essential at this point. So, he has urged the parties to acknowledge the same and try to forge consensus among themselves."
The government had been planning to pass the budget through an ordinance, but the president told Finance Minister Barsha Man Pun on Monday to wait a few more days for any chance of agreement. Leaders of UCPN(M), NC, UML and SLMM were present at Shital Niwas, and told reporters after the meeting that they would work out a compromise by the end of November.
The Bhattarai government has been planning to forward a popular budget to Shital Niwas but the President has suggested to the government that budget sans consensus would be difficult to approve. However, an insider says that the government has a back up plan and will strike off the popular programs from the budget if there is an agreement.
In any case, if the parties agree on the next election date, the government will have to drop the popular program as per electoral code of conduct.