Locals of Tilathi Koiladi Rural Municipality in Saptari district have resorted to protest against the decision made by the council meeting of the rural municipality to change the name and centre of the Rural Municipality on Sunday.

The agitated locals set fire on the tent that was set up for a programme scheduled for Monday to announce the decisions made by the rural municipality council meeting.

The protesting locals said that they resorted to protest after Tilathi Koiladi Rural Municipality Chairman Satish Kumar Singh unilaterally called for the council meet at the district headquarters in Rajbiraj and changed the name and centre of the rural municipality.

According to a local, Santosh Kumar Jha, Chairman Singh called a board meeting and changed the name of Tilathi Koiladi Rural Municipality to Gajendra Narayan Singh Rural Municipality and decided to shift the rural municipality’s centre from Tilathi to Jiriya Pokhari, which is the village of Singh.

Gajendra Narayan Singh is the founder chairman of the Sadbhawana Party.

The locals have also padlocked the office of the rural municipality.

Likewise, Tilathi Koiladi Rural Municipality Vice Chairperson Suchita Yadav accused Chairman Singh of hell bent on changing the name and centre of the rural municipality.

Meanwhile, Chairman Singh claimed that the decision to change the name and centre of the rural municipality was endorsed by a majority adding that he had called for the meet at the district headquarters due to lack of meeting space at rural municipality office. He further said that the council meeting of the rural municipality will be held at Jiriya Pokhari as the protesters burnt the tent.

Saptari District Police Office DSP Dhruva Kumar Shrestha informed that the agitated locals set the tent on fire and the office has deployed 23 Nepal Police and 11 Armed Police Force personnel to the incident site.