Kathmandu, April 30 -- Resham Chaudhary, patron of the Nagarik Unmukti Party, was arrested on Wednesday at the venue of a joint event with the Janamat Party, where the two parties were set to formally announce their unification.

Police personnel in plainclothes arrested him from the Nepal Academy in Kamaladi, Kathmandu, where top leaders and cadres from both parties had gathered for the unification declaration programme.

Sharad Singh Yadav, spokesperson for the Janamat Party, told the Post that the arrest resembled a kidnapping and was intended to obstruct the formal merger between the two parties.

"The unification programme has been postponed following the arrest," Yadav said. "It seems that the ruling parties are resolved to foil any...