Assembly members of Province 1 have mounted pressure on the government to name the province at the earliest date possible.

The assembly members of both the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) and opposition parties demanded that the province should be named by the ongoing winter session.

Speaking at the assembly meeting on Monday, Sanjha Kumari Danuwar of the Nepali Congress drew the attention of the Speaker over the delay in naming the province. Arguing that the delay had tarnished the image of the province, he demanded that the issue be sorted out at the earliest.

“Has it been delayed because the assembly members of the NCP are awaiting the directive of the party headquarters?” questioned Danuwar, reacting to the NCP-led government’s lackadaisical response to resolving the long-standing issue. “ It’s been two years since the provincial elections. People will insult us if the provincial assembly fails to name the province,” she added.

The NCP Secretariat had directed its provincial party committee and the parliamentary committee in Province 3 to adopt Bagmati and Hetauda as names of the province and its capital respectively in December 2019.

The NCP decision came under attack from various quarters, claiming that it was the leadership’s centralised mindset. As per constitutional provisions, provincial assemblies have the right to decide the names of the provinces and their capitals with a two-thirds majority.

The assembly members of the ruling party also demanded that Province 1 also be named soon. NCP member Khinu Langba Limbu on Sunday called for the naming of the province on the basis of identity.

Earlier, all five political parties in the Province 1 assembly had assured to decide the name of the province by the ongoing winter session that began on February 6. The assembly members, however, have doubts over the issue being resolved in the winter session.

The ruling NCP holds a comfortable majority to decide the name of the province. But the assembly members of the party are divided about the possible name.

According to assembly member Umita Bishwakarma, the members are divided on the proposed names of the province—Kirant, Limbuwan, Khumbuwan, Koshi, Sagarmatha, Koshi-Kirant or Koshi-Sagarmatha.

The NCP has 67 seats in the 93-member provincial assembly, while the main opposition Nepali Congress has just 21 members.

Similarly, Samajbadi Party Nepal has three members while Rastriya Prajatantra Party, Sanghiya Loktantrik Rastriya Manch has a member each and one candidate was elected as an independent member.

Province 3, 4, 6 and 7 have been named Bagmati, Gandaki, Karnali and Sudurpaschim respectively. Provinces 1, 2 and 5 are yet to be named.