A Provincial Assembly meeting on Monday declared Pokhara as permanent capital of Province 4 with two-thirds majority. 

All of the 52 provincial lawmakers who attended the meeting voted in favour of Pokhara. Deputy Speaker Srijana Sharma declared Pokhara as the provincial headquarters of Province 4 by two-thirds majority. The Nepali Congress provincial lawmaker Manibhadra Sharma supported the proposal tabled by the Nepal Communist Party lawmaker Krishna Bahadur Thapa to make Pokhara the provincial capital of Province 4. 

Minister for Industry, Tourism, Forest and Environment Bikash Lamsal said that all the lawmakers should be united to conserve the beauty of Pokhara. “We have to rally behind the greater Pokhara concept including Kusma, Phalebas, Putalibazar, Madhyabindu and Suklagandaki,” said Lamsal. 

As per the report presented by the parliamentary committee formed to study the possible name and capital of Province 4, 93.87 percent respondents suggested Pokhara as its provincial capital with 3.99 percent favouring Gorkha and other places. The committee, headed by seniormost member Thapa, presented its report to the Provincial Assembly after conducting a study in all 11 districts on June 24.

The committee, formed on March 26, had gathered suggestions from around 751 people in all the districts over the name and capital of the province and prepared the report. The panel has based its report on the suggestions from various social organisations, major political parties in the assembly and memorandums submitted to it.