Bhattarai has proposed either dividing the districts to include them in separate provinces or declaring them as union territories for now on condition that the dispute over delineation would be settled later.
Talking to a group of journalists at his residence on Wednesday, Bhattarai said his party is also open to creating a new federal state comprising Jhapa, Morang and Sunsari if other parties agree. Bhattarai's remarks come at a time when major parties have failed to settle the dispute over delineation of these districts in the federal setup.
Bhattarai, who also chairs the Constitutional Political Dialogue and Consensus Committee (CPDCC) of the Constituent Assembly (CA), also said UCPN (Maoist) is flexible on the number and the process for naming the federal states. "The territory dominated by the Khas-Arya community could be included in the hill states and Madhes-Tharu majority territory in the Tarai states. This could be an option if other parties are not ready to declare the districts union territories," said Bhattarai.
Bhattarai claimed that if political parties commit to deliver the new statue by May 29, the country's politics would get back on track. "Since we failed to deliver a new constitution by the January-22 deadline, Republic Day would be an appropriate new deadline" he said.
Bhattarai also said the ruling parties must ensure a consensus-based process for constitution-writing to make the dialogues fruitful.
Bhattarai said both the ruling and opposition parties in India want the new constitution in Nepal to be drafted in line with the spirit of the peace process. "All major Indian political forces including Bharatiya Janata Party, Indian National Congress, Aam Aadmi Party and the Indian bureaucracy has the same policy toward Nepal," said Bhattarai. "They believe that it is good for Nepal to draft the new statue in line with the spirit of peace process."
UCPN (Maoist) leader Bhattarai also claimed that since war and peace has international dynamics, it is natural for India to show concern over Nepal's peace process. "However I found that Indian political leadership was unaware about what's happening in Nepal, except some bureaucrats in their North desk of the Ministry on External Affairs," he said.
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