KATHMANDU, June 16: The ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) has sought clarification from its lawmakers who skipped the historic meeting of the House of Representatives (HoR) that passed the constitution amendment bill to incorporate Kalapani, Lipu Lekh and Limpiyadhura in Nepal’s political map.
NCP Chief Whip Dev Gurung said they have asked the lawmakers the reasons why they were not able to attend the house meeting on Saturday. “This is a natural process of the party. They have been asked to furnish the reasons why they were unable to join the meeting,” he said.
A total of 11 lawmakers of the HoR were absent in the crucial lower house meeting, which passed the constitution amendment bill that endorsed the country's new political map incorporating Kalapani, Lipu Lekh and Limpiyadhura. The amendment paved the way for updating the country’s map in the national emblem.
Those skipping the meeting citing various reasons included four lawmakers belonging to the ruling NCP, three lawmakers belonging to Nepali Congress (NC) and four others belonging to Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP).
NCP lawmakers skipping the meeting include Gopal Bahadur Bam, Haribol Gajurel, Dhan Bahadur Budha and Shiva Kumar Mandal. NC lawmakers Nagendra Kumar Chaudhary, Surya Bahadur KC and Gyan Kumari Chhantyal and JSP lawmakers Amrita Agrahari, Dulari Devi Khatweni and Pramod Sah and Sarita Giri were among those not taking part in the voting.
Altogether 258 of the total 275 lawmakers of the lower house had voted in favor of the constitution amendment bill. While the House Speaker does not normally take part in such voting, four lawmakers -- Resham Chaudhary, Hari Narayan Rauniyar, Aftab Alam and Bijaya Kumar Gachchhadar-- are under suspension.