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Pact on Madhesh state

KATHMANDU: The Seven Party Alliance (SPA) and United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) have reached a key agreement, effectively ending the 12-day long Madhes movement.

Both the sides have compromised on the main demand of the UDMF — One Madhes, One Pradesh.

They have, instead, agreed to form Madhesh autonomous state along with other autonomous states. It, however, doesn’t say whether there will be one unified Madhes state or not.

Jay Prakash Gupta, joint coordinator of the Madheshi Peoples Rights Forum (MPRF), told The Hindu that the Front had decided to reach an agreement keeping in view of the Constituent Assembly election. But he didn’t sound happy about the content of the pact. He said, “It’s a setback to the Madhesi cause since it is just a political agreement and it is not constitutionally binding as it hasn’t been incorporated in the constitution as demanded by the Madhesi people.”

They have also agreed to amend the Election Law and raise the inclusion limit to 30 per cent from 20 per cent. The UDFM had demanded to raise limit to 50 per cent.

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