President of the Nepali Congress Sushil Koirala has said that his party is ready to sit in the opposition if the Unified CPN-Maoist and CPN-UML form a coalition government.

Talking briefly to reporters at Biratnagar Airport today, he said that the prime ministerial candidacy of his party will not be withdrawn. He accused the UML of being responsible for the deepening the political crisis due to its dual policies. “The political scenario would not have been worsened if the UML had supported the NC in the prime ministerial race,” he said.

Koirala also expressed his dissatisfaction towards the Maoists’ proposal to pick Sher Bahadur Deuba as an alternative candidate to Ram Chandra Poudel and said, “The NC chooses its parliamentary party leader for the prime minister post.”

But he added that the NC is ready to hold talks and reconcile with the Maoists and the UML and expressed his hope that national consensus government will be formed prior to the extended deadline for drafting the new constitution.