Kathmandu: Dismissing the move by Nepal's parliament to proclaim the former Hindu kingdom a secular republic, diehard followers of ousted King Gyanendra have renewed their efforts to forge an alliance that would fight the April election to save the beleaguered royal family.

"We have invited like-minded people to form a coalition that would fight to save constitutional monarchy," said Padma Sundar Lawoti, a former minister who is also acting president of the pro-monarchy party, Rastriya Prajatantra Party (Nepal).

At a conference called in the capital Tuesday, the first step towards cementing an entente, Lawoti said about 20 parties, registered with the Election Commission to take part in the April 10 election, sent representatives to discuss the possibility of a royalist coalition that would take on the seven-party ruling alliance.

Most of the attendant parties are fringe outfits, with little organisational capability or clout.

Among them are the Nepali Congress (Rastrabadi) party, of which Bollywood actress Manisha Koirala's father Prakash Koirala is a prominent member.

Prakash Koirala, who was made a minister during King Gyanendra's rule and was expelled by his father's Nepali Congress party for accepting the post, recently hit the headlines after he met some top Maoist leaders, who are also seeking an alliance with royalists who, however, are patriots first.

Nepal Shiv Sena, an associate of India's powerful rightist Shiv Sena party, also took part in the consultations.

During the day, Nepal Shiv Sena took out a rally in Kathmandu valley in which Hindu holy men with matted hair and ash smeared on their bodies condemned the change into a secular republic.

"Nepal's self-styled impious lawmakers made the suicidal move of declaring the country a secular state," the party said in a statement.

"When Nepal was a Hindu state, there was religious harmony among all communities... Now there is a conspiracy against national unity, integrity and Hinduism."

The royalist parties are seeking to highlight the failures of the ruling alliance.

"The seven parties have imposed their monopoly in everything," Lawoti said. "There is no security, problems in the Terai plains are mounting, there is no power and the nation is heading towards fission."

Lawoti said the country could be saved from division only if the parties and a constitutional monarch joined forces.

However, he said that there has been no contact between his party and the royal palace.

It remains to be seen if the royalist alliance will take shape.

Two larger parties, once regarded as pro-palace, stayed away from the consultations.

Surya Bahadur Thapa, who was appointed prime minister by the king in 2003 and now heads the Rastriya Janashakti Party, and Pashupati Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana, chief of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party, did not turn up.

Source : IANS