The Tarai Madhes Loktantrik Party (TMLP) has said that it cannot accept the proposed demarcation of the local boundaries, claiming that the final draft submitted by the Local Level Restructuring Commission (LLRC) on Friday is incomplete and biased against Madhes.

TMLP, a constituent of the Samyutka Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha (SLMM), an alliance of seven Madhes-based parties, has also claimed that the LLRC’s report is against the concept of the restructuring of the federal boundaries.

“It (the proposed demarcation) also infringes upon Article 56 (4) and (5) and Article 295 (3) of the constitution. Madhes cannot accept the proposed draft,” TMLP Vice-chairman Hridayesh Tripathi said in a statement.

In a report submitted to Prime Minster Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the LLRC has proposed 719 local units in the federal set-up. The 1,700-page report has proposed four metropolitan cities, 12 sub-metropolitan cities, 241 municipal councils and 462 village councils.

In its statement, the TMLP has criticised the LLRC for flouting basic norms and values of the state restructuring and federalism while redrawing the map of the local units. The party has taken strong exception to the report for remaining silent on the formation of the protected areas, autonomous zones and special areas. TMLP leaders claim that the LRRC’s terms of reference called for formation of these units.

SLMM allies including TMLP, which did not take part in consultation meeting organised by the LLRC’s technical committees, have been seeking a package deal on the local boundaries together with other issues.

They have been saying that Madhes should have more than 350 local units based on population. Talking to the Post last week, Sanghiya Samajbadi Forum-Nepal Chairman Upendra Yadav had said that population should be the basis for determining the number of local set-ups. The regional parties are not obliged to take ownership of the report prepared without our consent, he said.

Other Madhesi leaders insist that the dispute over both federal and local boundaries should be resolved at the political level. “We should first end the row over provincial boundaries before determining number of local units,” said Sadbhawana Party Chair Rajendra Mahato.