KATHMANDU, Aug 2: Constitutional expert Dr. Bimarjun Acharya has argued that the federal system in Nepal should be dissolved as soon as possible.

Dr. Acharya’s remark comes after the Province 2 government filed a lawsuit against the federal government charging the latter for usurping the provincial government’s power—the first instance of a case filed at the Apex Court challenging the jurisdiction of the central government after the country adopted federalism.

The Ministry of Industry, Tourism, Forest and Environment of Province 2 on Thursday filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court challenging the government’s June 6 move to merge the Sagarnath Forest Development Project with the Timber Corporation of Nepal. The Provincial ministry has demanded the dismissal of the merger request.

The Province 2 on March 8 had decided to bring the Forest Development Project covering 13,132 hectares of land in Sarlahi, Mahottaria and Rautahat districts under the provincial government. However, the Office of Prime Minister on June 6 decided to merge the Forest Project with the Timber Corporation—the decision which the Province 2 Forest Minister Ramnaresh Raya has claimed as central government’s interference in the jurisdiction of the Province 2 government.

“The Province 2 government has filed a writ petition against the federal government. The federal system is a system full of writs and tensions. It is a heavenly system for those who entertain as such issues. The climax is yet to reveal. If possible, the federal system should be bid farewell as soon as possible,” tweeted Dr. Acharya.

प्रदेश सरकारले सङघीय सरकारको बिरूद्ध सर्वोच्च अदालतमा मुद्दा दायर गरेको छ । आखिर सङघीय ब्यवस्था मुद्दै मुद्दा र तनावै तनावको ब्यवस्था हो। मुद्दा मामिलामा रमाउनेहरुकालागि यो ब्यवस्था स्वर्गीय ब्यवस्था हो। यसको क्लाइमेक्स त बाँकी नै छ । सकिन्छ भने जति सक्दो छिटो यसलाई बिदा गरौं ।

— Bhimarjun Acharya (@BhimarjunPhD) August 1, 2019

SAPTARI, Sept 6: The provincial government of Province 2 has provided Rs 300,000 in relief to an injured of the third Madhes movement.

The provincial Minister for Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperatives Shailendra Prasad Sah handed over the amount to Shrawan Kumar Jha, who lost his right leg in the movement.

Jha of Hanumannagar Kankalini Municipality-3 was shot in his right leg during the protest on November 21, 2015, leading to his leg amputation.

Shyam Sundar Yadav, Vice President of the Federation of Nepali Journalists, Saptari, Federal Socialist Forum Nepal leader Binod Majhi and local journalists Ganga Sah and Ram Sewak Yadav were also present on the occasion.

Speaking at the event, Minister Sah said the provincial government was committed to providing assistance for the injured and martyrs’ families to make their livings. RSS

KATHMANDU, Dec 26: Rajendra Mahato, Presidium committee member of Rastriya Janata Party Nepal (RJPN) has said that Madhes alliance government will be formed in Province 2. He added that the Madhes government will continue its struggle for constitution amendment.

Of the total 32 parliamentary seats in Province 2, the Madhes-centric parties RJPN and Federal Socialist Forum Nepal (FSFN) secured victory in 10 seats each in the recently completed federal parliament and province assembly elections.

“The Madhes alliance will form government in Province 2, and the government will move ahead carrying the agenda of Madhesi rights, constitution amendment and development of Terai-Madhes,” said Mahato, who defeated Nepali Congress prominent leader Bimalendra Nidhi in House of Representative election in Dhanusha-3,  at an interaction program organized by the Reporters’ Club Nepal on Wednesday.

He, however, said that government formation in Province 2 was not their top priority but the amendment of constitution.

“We have been struggling for amendment since the promulgation of constitution. The constitution should be revised as per the aspiration of people so that it could meet the demands of Madhesis, Dalits, Muslims and indigenous people.”

“We will create pressure for this,” he added.

“The chief minister of Province 2 will be chosen in consensus with FSFN.”

RJPN, FSFN UNIFICATION IN NEAR FUTURE

Mahato also hinted at the possibility of unification with FSFN. He said “People’s mandate is in favor of Madhes alliance. There is possibility that the two parties will unite in near future.”

“Discussions are underway. Unification process with FSFN will be initiated very soon,” he added.

Mahato also clarified that he had not held any conversation with CPN-UML Chair Oli about the government formation.

The formation of new government has delayed over the National Assembly Election Ordinance row; and the unification process between UML and Maoist Center remains uncertain as skepticism and mistrust grows among the left alliance constituents.

Oli even held back door negotiation with FSFN Chair Upendra Yadav about the formation of new government, though it didn’t go well.

But, Mahato said that the Madhes-centric parties will not let itself be used as pawn for the formation of a new government.

He said, “The three parties UML, Maoist Center and NC jointly brought the constitution disregarding the sentiments of Madhesi people. Our struggle is for the rights of Madhesi people. The Madhes-centric parties will not have any role in government formation. But, if any party assures us to support our struggle, we will support them.”

Mahato also said that the National Assembly should be formed immediately.

“If the Ordinance is wrong, the President must return it. And if it is right, then the President must approve it. The Ordinance must not be kept pending like this,” he said.

KATHMANDU, Nov 1: Ram Naresh Raya, leader of Rastriya Janata Party Nepal (RJPN) has said that even if the party has reached an agreement on their shares of constituencies with its election partner Federal Socialist Forum Nepal, agreement with the ruling party Nepali Congress yet to shape a conclusion.

Talking to Rishi Dhamala in a program ‘Nepali Bahas’ at Nepali Radio Network on Wednesday, Leader Raya said that the party is discussing with the ruling party about finalizing the constituencies for the upcoming elections to the House of Representatives and Province Assemblies. The elections are scheduled for November 26 and December 7.

RJPN and FSFN finalized a partnership model for the province 2 on Tuesday. But the regional parties are not willing to leave any seats for NC in the province. They have said that they can forge alliance with the NC in highway areas and in other provinces.

“We have reached agreement in some constituencies. We are making a final effort to decide the constituencies. We are trying to reach a agreement by today evening,” said Raya.

He also claimed that RJPN will win in 17 constituencies under proportional representation (PR) category and in 5 constituencies under the first-past-the-post category.

On the occasion, Leader Raya also requested Rishi Dhamala to contest the elections (FPTP) from Madhes quota.

“Rishi Dhamala is the only journalist who speaks for Madhes and its people,” he told Dhamala.

After Dhamala told Raya that he had not decided about running the election, Raya responded saying, “Mahantha Thakur, Upendra Yadav and Madhesi people wants you to contest the polls from Madhes. Everybody is waiting to welcome a personality like Dhamala in Madhes. You have to decide soon.”

KATHMANDU, Oct 31: Federal Socialist Forum Nepal (FSFN) and Rastriya Janata Party Nepal (RJPN) have finalized their shares of seats in Province 2 for the upcoming Federal and Provincial elections.

A meeting of the top leaders of the two parties held on Tuesday reached the agreement, according to which, of the 32 parliamentary constituencies, FSFN will contest in 17 whereas RJPN in 15.

Likewise, Among 64 provincial constituencies, the Forum will get 33 and RJPN 31.

The two regional parties have partnered up to contest the upcoming twin elections scheduled for November 26 and December 7.

BIRATNAGAR, Oct 29: Chairman of the Federal Socialist Forum Nepal, Upendra Yadav, has said that leader of presidium of Rastriya Janata Party Nepal (RJPN), Mahantha Thakur, has not been proposed as the chief minister of province no 2.

Talking to media persons at Biratnagar Airport on Sunday, Chairman Yadav clarified that the decision would be made in this regard after the election of State Assemblies.

Stating that joint alliance has not been formed as policy, ideology and other issues are different with Nepali Congress, he expressed the belief that there could be alliance with NC only if the NC adopts flexibility regarding elections.

Yadav further said that an understanding has been reached in the party to allocate 15 seats of House of Representatives and 31 seats of State Assemblies to RJPN in province no 2 and added that there would be change in the seat allocation if election alliance was forged with NC.

On a different note, Chairman Yadav said, “The leftist alliance is not against nation. The alliance will be successful only if it will be able to maintain social justice by ending discriminations taking place in the society.”

Responding to a query, he said that his constituency was not yet certain. He further said that re-writing of the constitution and constitution amendment are still the demands of his party and the upcoming elections would finalize it.

Chairman Yadav said the elections should be held on the slated time and added that the Election Commission should be responsible to hold the elections in a free and fearless manner on the scheduled date. RSS

KATHMANDU, Oct 18: Jitendra Sonal, General Secretary of Rastriya Janata Party Nepal (RJPN) has claimed that the joint alliance of RJPN and Federal Socialist Forum Nepal (FSFN) will bring majority from Jhapa to Kanchanpur in the upcoming federal and provincial elections.

“Province 2 will have RJPN and FSFN alliance government,” he claimed while speaking during an interaction program organized by the Reporters’ Club Nepal on Wednesday.

“People will elect us since our party is carrying the agenda of constitution amendment and development of Madhes. There is no doubt we will emerge victorious in this region,” added Sonal.

Earlier this month, the two regional parties, RJPN and reached an understanding among themselves to forge electoral alliances in core Madhes constituencies on 50/50 basis.

“But we are also looking forward to make poll alliance with other parties in the constituencies our parties are relatively weak,” said Sonal adding that the parites expected for alliance must be supporter of constitution amendment.

“Seats sharing depend on the ground reality of the constituencies. Nepali Congress must show some flexibility in province 2; the RJPN-FSFN alliance will be flexible in other constituencies,” he added.

On the occasion, Sonal also said that there was no meaning for the CPN (Maoist Center) ministers to remain in the government. He said, “It is better of the Maoist ministers resign immediately since they have no moral ground to stay in the cabinet.”

“They have said that they will not resign from the cabinet unless the government guarantees the elections within the slated date. But, I think they are only doing drama,” he added.

KATHMANDU, Sept 15: The Election Commission (EC) has urged the ministers (who are not casting votes in Province-2) not to visit the Province No 2.

The EC has stated that the presence of ministers not casting votes in province-2 may affect the free and fair elections.

According to EC Spokesperson Navraj Dhakal, presence of ministers who were casting votes in the province was natural while it was unnatural to others.

The silent period began from Friday midnight. RSS

LAHAN, Sept 15: One hundred and nine polling booths in Siraha district have been identified as very sensitive in terms of poll security, the District Police Office, Siraha has stated.

Superintendent of Police (SP) at the DPO Shekhar Koirala said that 109 out of the total 219 polling booths in the district have been classified as very sensitive and 84 as sensitive. Only 26 polling booths have been put under the normal category.

SP Koirala said high security arrangement has been made at all the polling booths targeting the local level election taking place in the district on September 18.

He added that special security plan has been put in place to stop criminal and hooliganism that might take place at the polling booths adjoining the border with India. RSS 

KALAIYA, Sept 9: As the third round of local level election is only a few days away, a greater election enthusiasm can be realized in the faces of people in Province 2. The people have heartily welcomed the political leaders from various parties at their door.

Reporters’ Club Nepal’s President reports that the people in Madhes are excited about the election scheduled for September 18.

Dhamala, who is in Province 2 collecting the opinion of people and leaders regarding the election, further reports that the some leaders who are in Madhes to canvass votes have not stopped giving people false hopes to people about development and prosperity, but the people have put hopes in the leaders in with new expectations.

“People are ready to vote the leaders who bring the agenda of development,” said Raju Shah, a local resident of Kalaiya.

“We won’t be deceived by the false hopes of the leaders this time,” he added while talking to Dhamala at a program ‘Nepali Bahas’ which was live broadcast from streets of Kaliaya through Nepali Radio Network across the country.

Journo Dhamala further reports that the Madhesi people are willing to vote the new faces since the old faces neglected the development of their region after winning the elections in previous polls.

Another local resident and social leader, Heera Lal Shah said, “The Madhes is all about election. People here have taken election as festival… and of course, everybody is excited.”

He further said that the influence of Nepali Congress and CPN-UML is stronger in Madhes since the leaders of the Rastirya Janata Party Nepali could not unite at time of election. He however argued that RJPN is the only party with genuine Madhes agenda. “Other political parties exaggerate though.” He added.

Likewise, Umesh Gupta said that people are willing to vote only true leaders whose agendas are development oriented.

Another local resident expressed his disappointment of being deprived of rights.

Dhamala summarizing the people’s poll reports that the entire population of Province 2 have opined for the need to development, progress and prosperity of Madhes and are excited about the election.