The CPN (Maoist Centre) Parliamentary Party on Tuesday discussed the possibility of endorsing the constitution amendment bill by dropping the proposal to redraw the provincial boundaries.

Citing Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s busy schedule, the meeting was postponed till Thursday morning after the PM’s short briefing.

During a meeting with the ruling coalition on Monday, the main opposition CPN-UML had demanded the Madhesi Morcha’s commitment to participating in the elections, as a precondition to supporting the amendment bill by excluding the issue of provincial boundaries.

PM Dahal, who is also the leader of the Maoist PP, told the meeting on Tuesday that since revision of the provincial boundaries was not possible in the given circumstances, the party should try to endorse the proposal by dropping the issue of boundaries for the sake of taking the agitating Madhesi Morcha on board.

Maoist lawmakers representing the Madhes urged the party to create an environment for the Madhesi Morcha to take part in the elections even by signing an agreement with them. “Most of the lawmakers were for making maximum effort to bring the Madhesi Morcha to the local polls,” said former minister Giriraj Mani Pokhrel.

Party leaders also briefed the meeting about the political situation in the provinces. Shiva Mandal reported about the developments in Province 1, former minister Umesh Yadav briefed about Province 2, Santu Darai discussed about the situation in Province 3, Krishna Dhital presented his observations on Province 4, Rekha Sharma apprised the meeting on Province 5, Mahendra Shahi on Province 6 while Karna BK discussed her findings on Province 7. Dahal directed the party’s lawmakers to make necessary preparations for the polls saying that the government cannot backtrack on its decision to hold the local polls on May 14.

Dahal also told the meeting about his upcoming China visit. He said his visit would be important as he was scheduled to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. The lawmakers expressed their hope that the visit would be crucial for implementing the past agreements and strengthening ties between the two countries.