Kathmandu, January 31:

Considering the population growth over the years, it is likely that around 20 more constituencies could be added to the 205 constituencies, the election for which will be held on the first-past-the-post basis. A similar number of seats could also be added to 204 seats.

The interim constitution needs to be amended to add more constituencies meant for the constituent assembly.

PM in his address today said the constituencies would be “delimited” and “increased” based on “similar population” and “geographical feature” and “expediency”. Defining ‘similar population,’ Dr Minendra Rijal of the NC-D and lawmaker, said on the average, there would be one constituency for a population of 1,15000. “But this principle cannot be applied to the sparsely-populated district like Manang, where the total population is just 9,000 and the region is completely different from the rest of the country,” Rijal said. “Geographical features and expediency cannot be ignored while delimiting the constituencies,” Rijal said.

According to his calculation based on the population growth over the decade, around 15 constituencies could be added in the Terai region from Jhapa in the east and Rupandehi in the west.

Four constituencies could be added in the hill districts of Kaski, Makwanpur, Kavre and the Kathmandu Valley. Rijal said 20 more constituencies could be added in the interim statute for the purpose of electing candidates on the first-past-the-post system. A similar number of seats could be added for the proportional representation system, he added.

He said 14 hill districts had only one constituency each, where the total population is less than 150,000. Dadeldhura has one constituency for a population of 1,26,000 while there are two constituencies in Taplejung, where total population stands at around 134,000. But, Kathmandu has one constituency for a population of 1,50,000.