GORKHA, Sept 1: Political parties and civil society leaders in Gorkha have expressed disappointment with the Election Constituency Delineation Commission (ECDC), over the demarcation of electoral constituencies.
As per the report submitted by ECDC, the district will have two constituencies. Leaders have accused the ECDC of demarcating the electoral constituencies without considering the geography, current development status, ethnic diversity, caste and culture of the area.
Parties campaigning in villages
After the local level restructuring, there are nine rural municipalities and two municipalities in Gorkha. As per the restructuring, Dharche, Ajirkot, Siranchowk, Sulikot rural municipality and Palungtar municipality along with ward eight to 14 of Gorkha Municipality have been included in Constituency number 2. Similarly, Chumanubri, Arughat, Bhimsen, Shahid Lakhan, Gandaki rural municipality and ward no one to seven of Gorkha Municipality will fall under Constituency number 1.
What disappointed the political leaders the most is the division of Gorkha Municipality into two constituencies. “It won't be convenient to divide one municipality into two different parts,” said Yadu Adhikari, chairperson of Human Rights Network, Gorkha.
NC's district president Hari Bahadur Ghale says it has been hard for the people to figure out on what basis the ECDC demarcated the constituencies. According to him, it would be easier to develop all places proportionately if the electoral constituencies were determined considering all aspects of the places.
Similarly, CPN-UML's district chairperson Prem Gurung said that it is not appropriate to keep two border points with Tibet in one constituency. “It does not look scientific,” he said. According to some Maoist leaders, this decision seems more like someone's personal decision to serve his/her vested interests.
After the division of some villages and municipalities into two different constituencies, it would be difficult for the locals to get any kind of service, according to the political leaders. They further claimed that this odd distribution will make it hard for the new local representatives to conduct developmental projects. Even the locals are worried that inappropriate distribution may hinder their proportionate development.
