Mahendranagar, 9 September

Five years after the two-thirds majority of the first state assembly decided to make the state capital in the forest area of Godavari Municipality 4 Teghari in Kailali, the debate on shifting the capital of Far West Province to a new place has started.

A year and a half after the then Prime Minister and Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba addressed the election assembly in Dadeldhura on 27th Baisakh 27, 2079, the Chief Minister of the province Kamal Bahadur Shah reached Dadeldhura and said that the provincial capital could be moved.

Currently, the subject of the capital has gained importance again. Last Wednesday, Chief Minister Shah said in a press conference held in Dadeldhura that the capital could be moved as the structure could not be built in the Godavari Municipality 4 Teghri forest area of Kailali, where the capital has been designated.

Chief Minister Shah said that if necessary, the provincial capital and name can be changed.

Chief Minister Shah has said that even if this matter does not enter the state assembly, the discussion on the capital can be started as per the need. He did not say anything about where to move the capital. After reaching the home district of Congress President Deuba, Chief Minister Shah announced that the state capital would be shifted, and it is said that the homework for shifting the provincial capital has started.

A lawmaker close to the Chief Minister said that in preparation for his wife Arju Deuba, a Congress central member, to contest the election from the home district of Congress president Deuba, housework is being done to shift the state capital to Dadeldhura. The MP said, "After losing once from Kailali Region No. 5, Dr. Arju Deuba is preparing to make Dadeldhura a constituency."

He claimed that the housework of moving the capital is going to be done because the assurance given by the chairman of the election, Deuba, will also be met and it will be easier to fight the next election. In the last election, Dadeldhura, the provincial capital, became the main election issue. The then Prime Minister Deuba had said, "Win over the Congress. Moving the capital to Dadeldhura is not a big issue."

The coalition parties also have a two-thirds majority in the provincial assembly. Khagraj Bhatt, the leader of the Maoist Parliamentary Party, another big ruling party, was elected from Dadeldhura. Maoists can also be positive about shifting the capital to Dadeldhura.

"Due to the forest dispute, physical structures have not been constructed in the designated state capital for 5 years," a Congress leader at the state level near Deuba also says that Dadeldhura is a suitable environment for shifting the capital.

"Chief Minister Shah's announcement of moving the capital to Dadeldhura is not just a coincidence," said the leader close to Deuba.

Bikram Dhami, chief whip of the Nepali Congress Sudurpaschim Provincial Assembly, says that there is no discussion on this issue within the parliamentary party and the party. Chief Whip Dhami said, "The chief minister's statement has come out, but there has been no discussion on this issue within the party and within the parliamentary party."

Member of Parliament Bir Bahadur Walair elected from Kailali Region No. 4, the state president of the Congress, also said that there has been no discussion in any of the party's committees so far on the matter of shifting the capital. MP Walair said, "I have no information on this matter."

He said that he has spoken about the capital several times in the parliament, but he said, "However, there has not been any discussion within the party recently about moving the capital." On the issue of moving the provincial capital to another place due to forest disputes, Walair is also positive. But he does not agree to move the capital outside Kailali Region No. 4.

The previous provincial assembly had decided to build it at 4 Teghri, Godavari Municipality of Kailali, the provincial capital, on 12 August 2075. 38 MPs of the then Maoist and UML voted in favor while 12 MPs of the Nepali Congress and 2 MPs of RJP did not participate in the voting process.