HETAUDA: Four political parties including ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) and the main opposition Nepali Congress have registered a joint proposal in the provincial assembly to name Province 3 'Bagmati' and maintain Hetauda as its permanent capital, on Saturday.

Province 3 Chief Minister Dormani Poudel, also parliamentary party leader of NCP (NCP), parliamentary party leader of NC Indra Bahadur Baniya, Rashtriya Prajatantra Party's Rita Majhi, and Rina Gurung of Rastriya Prajatantra Party (Samyukta) registered the proposal at Hetauda-based provincial assembly secretariat.

Other supporters of the proposal include provincial minister for Internal Affairs and Law Salikram Jammarkattel and NCP (NCP) leader Rameshwar Phuyal. Similarly, Surendra Raj Gosain of Nepal Workers Peasants Party stated that the name Bagmati and capital Hetauda were suitable for the province.

Meanwhile, Bibeksheel Nepali and Sajha Bibeksheel agreed to the province name but expressed dissatisfaction with Hetauda being the provincial capital. They were of the opinion that Dhulikhel in Kavrepalanchowk be chosen as the capital of Province 3.

Speaking after the proposal was registered, CM Poudel said that Bibeksheel's disagreement with the decision regarding the province capital would not bring any change and urged all parties to collectively be a part of the decision. Similarly, Congress leader Baniya said that it was a vital decision wherein those disagreeing could still be a part of the agreement.

Speaking at the close of the provincial assembly meeting today, Speaker Sanu Kumar Shrestha informed that final decision on the name and capital of the province will be taken after a voting process scheduled for Sunday.

An all-party meeting had taken place in Hetauda on Friday night to create a consensus on the name and capital of Province 3.

As of today, out of the total 110 lawmakers of the provincial assembly, all members except independent lawmaker Prem Bahadur Tamang have expressed their agreement on the province name as Bagmati while 106 lawmakers have agreed to Hetauda being the province capital.

(Translated by Madhavi Marasini, Edited by Priyanka Adhikari)