There has been general strike in Dipayal of Doti for the past four days demanding it be made Province 7 capital stating that the government is selecting Dhangadi as the temporary capital.
There have also been demonstrations and protests in other parts of the country on the issue of selection of provincial capitals.
Locals in Dhankuta have been demonstrating demanding that it be made Province 1 capital pointing that it has the regional administrative office. Locals of Biratnagar and Itahari are also demanding their respective cities be made the capital.
A government task force has submitted its report saying that Dang would be appropriate for Province 5 capital. But CPN-UML leader Bishnu Paudel has said Butwal should be the capital and claimed that he would ensure that, even as CPN (Maoist Center) leader Krishna Bahadur Mahara has already announced he will make Dang the capital.
Locals in Birgunj are also protesting demanding it be made Province 2 capital. Locals of Jumla have also been protesting in the past few days in Province 6 where there was not much problem earlier.
All the political parties are participating locally in the demonstrations demanding provincial capitals but they have yet to make their position clear at the central level. The government is also hesitating to select temporary provincial capitals fearing protests and unpopularity.
The government is currently discussing about four alternatives, according to Baluwatar sources.
The first is not selecting provincial capitals for now, and administering the oath of office to the provincial assembly members in Kathmandu after appointing provincial chiefs.
The second is moving forward as per the report of the task force government formed to recommend provincial capitals. The task force had recommended Biratnagar as capital of Province 1, Janakpur of Province 2, Bhaktapur of Province 3, Pokhara of Province 4, Dang of Province 5, Surkhet of Province 6 and Dhangadi of Province 7.
The task force, including representatives of the Prime Minister's Office and the Urban Development Ministry, has recommended the places considering the state and availability of buildings.
The third alternative is announcing the places that currently house High Courts as provincial capitals. Biratnagar has High Court in Province 1, Janakpur in Province 2, Lalitpur in Province 3, Pokhara in Province 4, Tulsipur of Dang in Province 5, Surkhet in Province 6 and Dipayal in Province 7.
The government is also discussing about the option of selecting provincial capitals through political consensus. But there is little chance of the parties coming together on the issue of provincial capitals and others.
UML has already refused to talk with the government on the issue. It does not want to share the blame for selecting the capitals.
UML Vice Chairman Bhim Rawal avoided the issue saying it is the government's responsibility to select the provincial capitals and his party was not informed by the government even when the task force conducted study.
"We have said that the government should pave the way for formation of a new government as soon as possible. It should appoint provincial chiefs and select provincial capitals for that," Rawal told Setopati. "We don't have any information about not selecting now or which places are to be selected. We may have had our position if they had been selected. We don't know now," he argued.
Prime Minister (PM) Sher Bahadur Deuba also does not want to take blame for the protests that look set to start after announcement of provincial capitals, according to sources close to PM Deuba.
CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal commented that there is no need to worry about provincial capitals as it is the prerogative of provincial governments. "Chitwan can also be capital (of Province 3). We need not worry too much about this now. It is an issue that needs to be decided by provincial governments," he assured.
The Election Commission (EC), on its part, has already urged the government to announce provincial chiefs and provincial capitals. It has been saying election for the National Assembly will have to be held in each province. It has also been complaining about the delay in submission of final results of provincial assembly elections in lack of provincial chiefs in all seven provinces.
Article 288 of the Constitution states that provincial capital will be kept at the places selected by two-third majority of the respective provincial assemblies. But any place selected by the government can function as provincial capital until the provincial assemblies decide.
The previous governments had also prepared schedule for selecting provincial capitals.
The then KP Oli government had prepared a schedule to select provincial capitals by January 23, 2017. But Oli was forced to resign before that. The Dahal government, that succeeded his, did not prioritize that schedule.
Announcing his 100-day feats on November 11, 2016, Dahal had said he would announce provincial chiefs and provincial capitals within a few days. But he failed to select provincial capitals during his term. He quit after holding the first round of local elections.
The Deuba government now is also unwilling to select provincial capitals. It wants to avoid the protests that look set to erupt at the local level after announcement of provincial capitals.
