Kathmandu, June 7:

Nepal Congress Janajati leaders Wednesday warned the NC that they would not be part of Friday’s anti-government protests if it did not take their agenda seriously.

Submitting a memorandum to NC president Sushil Koirala, they urged him to support their demands.

During the meeting, Koirala said the NC accepted federalism in the Interim Constitution as it favoured federalism.

He said NC would stick to federalism and identity issues.

"The UCPN-Maoist leaders are trying to mislead the people by saying that the NC was against federalism and identity-based states. They are also trying to create a conflict between the NC and the Janajati communities," he said.

He also commented that the Maoists were doing so with the aiming of capturing the state powers.He said NC knew and honored the contributions of Janajatis.

During the meeting, the team presented an 11-point memorandum. Janajati leader DB Lama said NC appeared to go against the identity of Janajatis, directly and indirectly, and urged the party to clarify its stand on the issue.

Janajati leader Indra Bahadur Gurung urged the NC chief to be clear on the Janajati’s idea and blamed that the NC was forgetting the Janajati agenda.