Rukum, September 7

As many as 15 Nepali Congress leaders and activists, including lawmaker Mithu Malla, today tendered their resignation from their party’s general membership expressing dissatisfaction with the demarcation of provinces in the proposed federal set up, which had split Rukum.

The disgruntled Nepali Congress leaders and activists handed over their joint resignation to party president and the Prime Minister Sushil Koirala at his official residence in Baluwatar.

They reasoned that they had to resign as the concerned authority did not heed the genuine demand of the district folks to keep Rukum intact in province no 5. Besides NC lawmaker Malla, former state minister Keshar Man Roka, Rukum district president Man Bahadur Nepali and other activists resigned.

According to Nepali, they decided to renounce their party’s membership as the party leadership remained mum against undivided Rukum, which was against the spirit of the district denizens. He accused the top leaders of the major forces of trying to fool them. “They had assured intact Rukum but they failed to implement it in action,” argued Nepali.

In the proposed federal set up, 12 eastern VDCs of the district have been incorporated in province no 5 whereas the remaining VDCs are in province no 6. District folks were agitating demanding an undivided Rukum and incorporating the district in province no 5.