Three parties are close to an agreement on form of governance and state restructuring. The meeting of the top leaders of the UCPN (Maoist), Nepali Congress and CPN-UML held at UML headquarters in Balkhu reached close to the consensus, leaders claimed.

"We have tentatively agreed on form of governance and state restructuring," said UML leader Bhim Rawal, "But we still need to have more discussions to reach final conclusion," he said.

It is learnt that UCPN (Maoist) has shown flexibility on the numbers of the provincial state while NC has not changed its position on its 7 state- model proposal.

Present in the meeting were Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai, Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Nepali Congress president Sushil Koirala, vice president Ram Chandra Poudel, leader Ram Sharan Maha, UML chairman Jhala Nath Khanal, senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal and KP Oli among other. nepalnews.com