Kathmandu, January 7

A four-hour meeting between Province 3 Assembly members of Nepal Communist Party (NCP) and party co-chairs Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal, and NCP General Secretary Bishnu Paudel today concluded that the Province 3 government would move ahead with the process of naming the province Bagmati and designating Hetauda as its headquarters.

Province 3 Assembly lawmakers of the ruling party were divided between Dhulikhel and Hetauda as province headquarters. The issue had become contentious after the majority of NCP lawmakers stood against the party’s December 29 decision to name the province Bagmati and designate Hetauda as its permanent headquarters.

Lawmakers opposing the party’s decision were of the view that Hetauda’s location was inconvenient, although the name of the province was not that debatable. The lawmakers had even said they would not obey the party decision. “We still think Hetauda’s location is inconvenient, but we’ve decided to toe the party’s line,” Province 3 Minister of Internal Affairs and Law Salikram Jamarkattel told THT.

Jammarkattel was among the provincial lawmakers attending today’s meeting at Baluwatar. Other leaders present were Astha Laxmi Shakya, Kashi Nath Adhikari, Narayan Dahal, Rajendra Pandey, Rameshwor Phuyal and Ananda Pokhrel.

Province-3 leaders had come to Kathmandu to hold talks with the party leadership after holding a meeting of the Province 3 Assembly parliamentary party. In the meeting, majority of the lawmakers had expressed dissatisfaction with the party’s decision, but were unanimous that they had no option but to follow the decision, said Jammarkattel. He said the top leaders told the visiting leaders that since the country was in the phase of implementing the constitution and federalism, the top leadership had decided on Hetauda after thorough consultations.

“The leadership said the party’s decision was its whip and the decision would not change,” said Jammarkattel.