Kathmandu, February 12
Efforts to sort out dispute related to provincial boundaries have begun days before the beginning of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s visit to India. At the call of PM Oli, three major political parties and the United Democratic Madheshi Front are holding a meeting at PM’s official residence in Baluwatar. The two sides are discussing the terms of reference of the political mechanism tasked with settling the boundary dispute.
The UDMF has already agreed on constituting a mechanism and giving it three months to settle the dispute. But there has been no agreement on the mechanism’s ToR so far.
According to sources, the three parties and the UDMF are close to an understanding on ToR. The ToR will stop short of committing a two-province Madhesh, something which the UDMF has been seeking.
The ToR will state that provincial boundaries will be redrawn on the basis of reports of the State Re-structuring Committee, the State Re-structuring Commission and the Dialogue Committee.
“Most probably, we will reach an understanding on ToR today itself,” a source close to the UDMF said. The political mechanism will have to get a nod from the Legislature-Parliament.
