Janakpurdham, March 17

The Provincial Assembly failed to decide the name of Province 2 through voting today.

Four names were proposed by different parties in the assembly, but none of the proposals could garner necessary two-thirds majority.

Voting was held in four phases at the Provincial Assembly to decide the name of Province 2. Four proposals were registered with the PA for naming the province. The PA Secretariat source said Madhesh Pradesh, proposed by the ruling combination of Samajbadi Party-Nepal and Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal garnered most votes — 60 — 12 votes short of two-thirds majority.

The Nepal Communist Party (NCP) had registered the proposal to name the province Janaki. A total of 37 votes were cast in favour of naming the province Janaki while 70 voters were cast against the proposal.

In Province 2, SP-N has 30 lawmakers while RJP-N has 25 lawmakers. One independent lawmaker has also thrown his weight behind the ruling coalition. The main opposition NCP has 32 lawmakers, while Nepali Congress has 19.

The Nepali Congress had proposed to name the province Mithila-Bhojpura. When the proposal was put to vote, it received only 28 votes in favour, while 79 votes were cast against the proposal.

After that, voting was held on the proposal registered by some lawmakers of Parsa district. They proposed to name the province Madhya Madhes. It garnered 42 votes in its favour, while 65 votes were cast against the proposal.

The ruling Samajbadi Party-Nepal and Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal had proposed to name the province Madhes Pradesh. Sixty votes were cast in favour of the proposed name, while 46 were cast against the proposal. Seventy-two votes were required for the proposed name to be passed by the PA.

The committee led by Speaker Saroj Kumar Yadav has forged consensus on Janakpurdham as the province’s headquarters.

Prior to the voting, more than 12 lawmakers had put their views in the Provincial Assembly. They had appealed to vote for their proposal.