According to Suresh Shrestha, who witnessed then Maoist rebels' attack on the district headquarters in 2005, life has returned to normalcy now as parties have finally come together."The war devastated our lives. Everything was so scary. But now we are moving toward normalcy," said the 40-year old Shrestha, a local of Tansen-8, Bhagwati tole. "I do not see any see major differences between the political parties and there is no possibility of another war now. The parties now seem to have put their differences aside to produce a new constitution," he added.
The draft constitution produced by the major political parties has given people hope of the beginning of a new era of peace and development. "In my opinion, the draft is more progressive than the interim constitution," said Shrestha.
Similarly, local leaders say they are ready to keep their political differences aside and forge a common stance to solve problems.
"Though the draft constitution is a document of compromise between major political forces, it has helped resolve the political deadlock," said Devi Prasad Basyal, CPN-UML chairman of Palpa district. He also said that the political parties could come up with more inclusive constitution in order to address the concerns of the marginalized and backward community.
"Few concerns have yet to be addressed. The new constitution should be owned by all," added Basyal. According to Basyal, the locals as well as politicians in the district are concerned about the proposed federal states. "Tarai is the soul of the district. Kapilvastu and Rupendehi cannot be separated from Palpa," he stressed.
Basanta Sharma, chief of UCPN (Maoist) Palpa district claimed that the draft constitution has addressed genuine issues raised by his party. "We have sacrificed a lot to establish these agendas in the new constitution. The draft constitution has addressed most of the issues raised by our party," said Sharma. "Overall, the draft is a document of compromise and our party has agreed to end the deadlock," he added.
Bir Bahadur Rana, Nepali Congress (NC) secretary of Palpa district said he has some reservations over the preamble the draft constitution. He thinks that Nepal should be defined as a pluralist state in the preamble of the new constitution. However, he said the new draft is still more progressive and has responded to most of the grievances of marginalized and backward communities and of women.
The local leaders maintained that the country should get new constitution as that is only the way to forward.
"Political parties still might have some differences. But the differences should be resolved for the sake of the country," said Chief District Officer (CDO) Prem Lal Lamichhane. He said all the political parties in the district and local administration have agreed to develop Palpa Durbar as a museum.
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