Janakpurdham, April 29

Political parties in Province 2 are having a hard time deciding on a name for their province and determining which party will occupy the opposition bench.

Parties in the Provincial Assembly have yet to agree on the name of the province and give official recognition to the opposition party.

Governing parties — the Federal Socialist Forum-Nepal and Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal — are making efforts to name the province Madhes Pradesh. FSF-N central member and State Minister for Agriculture, Cooperative and Land Management Yogendra Yadav said the province should be named Madhes Pradesh as the country had become federalised as a result of the Madhes agitation. Yadav asked other parties not to fuss over the nomenclature of the province. He also clarified that the PA speaker had the prerogative to give recognition to the opposition party in the Provincial Assembly.

“We can reach agreement on opposition party, name of the province, headquarters and language in a single package,” Yadav said.

Nepali Congress parliamentary party leader Ram Saroj Yadav accused the government of not taking formal initiative to name the province. “The provincial government is very reluctant to hold discussion on the name, language and headquarters of the province,” he added. Ram Saroj said that their repeated requests to the chief minister had gone into vain.

“Agreement cannot be reached unless the government takes initiative in this regard,” Ram Saroj said. He warned that they would not allow the PA to function unless an opposition party was recognised. “The Speaker has to fix the opposition party. Since all the parties barring the NC have supported the government, NC has to be recognised as the opposition party,” he added.

Professor Parmeswor Kapadi said it would send a good message if the name of the province was finalised prior to the Indian Prime Minister’s visit. “Since Modi’s visit to Janakapur will give it publicity to the world, it has become necessary to name the province before his tour,” Kapadi said.

CPN-Maoist Party parliamentary party leader Ram Chandra Mandal said the province should be named Mithila-Bhojpura-Madhes.

He, however, said that the Madhes comprised 22 districts and the province could not be named Madhes. “Agreement can be reached on the name, but the government has to initiate discussion on this,” Mandal said.

Pressure is piling on the province government from their own parties to name the province. But, the government has yet to table the bill on naming the province in the assembly.