Kathmandu, June 2 (IANS) In a bid to exert pressure on caretaker Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai to step down, a group of 19 Nepali political parties have decided to hold a mass rally in Kathmandu next week, Xinhua reported.

According to Republica daily, a joint meeting of the 19-party alliance Friday decided to organise the protest rally in Kathmandu June 8.

The meeting took the decision concluding that Bhattarai first needs to vacate the post to pave the way for the formation of a national consensus government, the daily added.

After the meet, Chairman of the Communist Party Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) Jhalanath Khanal said: The prime minister's unconstitutional move to announce date for fresh Constituent Assembly polls for Nov 22 has prolonged transition period.

The prime minister must acknowledge his unconstitutional move and vacate the prime minister's office for national consensus, he added.

The meeting was attended by top leaders of the major parties Nepali Congress and CPN-UML.

The parties have claimed that the announcement of a fresh CA election date was a conspiracy to prolong Bhattarai's stay in power.