Morang district has just six federal constituencies to Kathmandu's 10 even as the former has 41,322 more voters than that in Kathmandu.
Morang has 644,782 voters, according to the latest record of Election Commission, and Kathmandu 603,430. But while the number of constituencies in Morang has been cut to six from nine in the second Constituent Assembly (CA) election by the Electoral Constituency Determination Commission when adjusting the total constituencies to 165 from 240, that in Kathmandu has been left unchanged at 10.
This 'injustice' is not limited merely to Morang, and adjoining Jhapa also has just five constituencies despite the number of voters being just 18,294 lower than that in Kathmandu. There were seven constituencies in Jhapa in the second CA election.
Why has the number of constituencies been cut despite higher number of voters?
Madhav Adhikari, who was with the Electoral Constituency Determination Commission, said number of constituencies was determined on the basis of population and not voters.
The population of Kathmandu was 1,744,240 as per the census in 2011 while that of Morang was just 965,370. Adhikari argued that the commission looked at the population and not voters as the constitution states the number of constituencies must be determined on the basis of population.
He, however, conceded that the current number of constituencies should be reviewed as it was done in a hurry. "Delineation done in just 21 days cannot be scientific," he stated. "It would be appropriate to again delineate constituencies after the next census," he added.
Constituencies can next be delineated only after 20 years, as per the constitution. But Adhikari feels it should be reviewed even if constitution has to be amended.
