Onlinekhabar caught up with Nepali Congress leader Bimalendra Nidhi to talk about the proposal he has tabled in the Parliament, seeking amendment to the constitution that the popularly-elected Constituent Assembly promulgated with an overwhelming majority when NC President Sushil Koirala was prime minister.
Nidhi claimed during the interview that he can convince the United Democratic Madheshi Front, which has been spearheading a movement in the Madhesh demanding redrawing of provincial boundaries, to accept his proposal.
Excerpts from the interview:
On his amendment proposal
- I tabled the proposal for two reasons. The first is to address demands of the UDMF, which has been spearheading a movement. Secondly, we had first spoken on the issue (of delineation of constituencies on the basis of population), not the UDMF because this is related to Madheshi people. It is a right of voters. Access to the central government depends and representation depends on the electoral system. So far, we have 240 constituencies and population is the basis for delineation of these constituencies. There are electoral seats in Madhesh, Himal and Hills on the basis of population. We have tested this system twice. While promulgating the new constitution, there was an understanding on carving out 165 election constituencies. This is faulty. I and other Congress lawmakers had raised voices against this.
- The 11-point charter of demands was nowhere there when Mahesh-centric parties were staging a movement. They were demanding fulfillment of 22 and eight-point charter of demands. At that time, constituencies were not delineated like this. We had raised the issue well before this.
- We have floated two models. Constituencies should be delineated either on the basis of the Interim Constitution or on the basis of population. I am sure this is acceptable to all.
- At that time, the stress was on early promulgation of the constitution, regardless of fault lines. While promulgating the constitution, then prime minister Sushil Koirala had assured to make necessary changes later. The idea was to ensure rights to Madheshi people and address the agitating UDMF’s demands.
