Parliamentarians representing Terai region have issued a joint appeal calling for a fresh census ahead of Constituent Assembly (CA) polls.

Twenty-six Madhesi MPs issued the statement demanding rejection of recommendations made by Electoral Constituency Delineation Commission (ECDC). The ECDC headed by former Supreme Court (SC) judge Arjun Prasad Singh had recently recommended adding 35 seats – 28 in Terai districts and 7 in hilly district.

“If the CA election is not going to be held in June, there will be ample time to hold fresh census based on which the constituencies should be re-delineated,” said MP and vice president of Nepal Sadbhavana Party (NSP-Anandidevi) Bharat Bimal Yadav.

The MPs have accused the government of conspiring to derail Madhesi people’s demand for fair delineation of constituencies and ‘sowing the seeds for long-term conflict.’

They have asked the government to stop implementing the ECDC recommendations if it wants to save the country from disintegration.

The MPs who signed the statement include Kailash Nath Kasaudhan, Ajay Kumar Chaurasiya, Surendra Prasad Chaudhary, Birendra Kumar, Amaresh Kumar Singh and Nagendra Kumar Raya of Nepali Congress; Chitra Lekha Yadav, Hari Narayan Chaudhary, Laxman Prasad Mehta, Mangal Prasad, Ram Jeevan Singh, Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar, Umakanta Chaudhary, Ram Janam Chaudhary and Mahendra Yadav of Nepali Congress (Democratic); Mahendra Prasad Yadav, Dr. Bansidhar Mishra, Dan Bahadur Chaudhary and Jagadish Prasad Shah of UML; Hridayash Tripathy, Bharat Bimal Yadav and Gobinda Tharu of NSP-Anandidevi; and Ajaya Pratap Shah of Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP). MPs Jaya Prakash Gupta, Ram Chandra Raya and Renu Yadav have not stated the name of their party in the statement.