Accusing the monarchy of using agitating groups in Terai to disrupt the crucial Constituent Assembly polls, the Maoists in Nepal have threatened to take up arms again if the April 10 vote is put off for the third time even as two Madhesi groups announced a fresh stir.

“The cremation of the institution of monarchy will be done with the holding of the Constituent Assembly polls,” CPN-Maoist’s second in command Baburam Bhattarai said at a joint election rally in the eastern Nepal town of Biratnagar.

“But the royalists are trying to use some legitimate demands of the Terai as a means to disrupt the polls. If the Madhesi people danced to their tune and disrupted the polls, the achievements they have made so far through democratic movement would slip away from their hands,” he said.

The Maoist leader said monarchy was already “dead” with parliament passing resolution declaring the country a republic, subject to ratification by the Constituent Assembly.

“Maoists have locked up their arms but they are still capable to make bombs and use arms in case the polls are sabotaged,” he said referring to the guerrilla army that was confined to cantonments under UN supervision following the 2006 peace deal.

Nepal’s Terai region, which witnessed large scale violent protests last year from Madhesi community which is demanding greater share in the country’s politics and economic resources, appeared to be on the boil again ahead of the polls with two groups announcing a fresh stir.

The Samyukta Madhesi Morcha and Madhesh Terai Loktantrik Party have announced protest programmes in southern Nepal from Jan 23 claiming that the seven-party unity government was ignoring their demands.