PALPA, Dec 16: A 24 - hour general strike called to protest the proposal to split a province has affected normal life in the district with transportation coming to a grinding halt and closure of educational institutes and retail shops. 

The local struggle committee took the decision to call general strike against the proposal to split Province no 5 on Friday and Saturday. Earlier, the agitators had enforced a general strike from November 29 to December 10 which had to be called off as it started to take a toll on the people's daily lives. 

Palpa's Nepali Congress, CPN (UML), CPN (ML), RPP and Janamorcha among other political parties and Palpa Chamber of Commerce and Industry took the decision to resume strike after the government proposed to split Palpa district from Tarai and merge it with Province no 4. 

The agitation will continue until the government withdraws its proposal to split Province no 5, said CPN (UML) Palpa Chairman, Narayan Acharya. 

The agitators took out a torch rally on Thursday evening from Palpa district's headquarters, Tansen, protesting the proposal to divide Province no 5. RSS