The Province 7 has been named as ‘Sudurpashchim’ and fixed Godawari of Kailali as its capital on Friday amidst protest from local leaders led by main opposition Nepali Congress (NC).  The name of the province and its capital has been approved after 38 lawmakers of the ruling Nepal Communist Party voted for the proposal at today’s Province Assembly meeting.

The proposal prepared by a five-member parliamentary committee under Nepal Communist Party (NCP) Chief Whip Tara Lama Tamang was endorsed by a majority.

Of the 53 members in the Province Assembly, 39 are from t NCP, 12 are from the main opposition Nepali Congress (NC) and two are from the RastriyaJanata Party Nepal (RJPN).

After the voting, Speaker Arjun Bahadur Thapa announced ‘Sudurpashchim’ as the name of Province 7 and ‘Godawari’ as its capital as per the Article 288 (2) of the constitution.

The opposition NC had been demanding Dhangadhi as the capital of Province 7.

The NC lawmakers had walked out of the Province Assembly meeting hall after airing their views thinking that the meeting would not address their demand.

Speaking at the meeting, NC lawmaker Rana Bahadur Rawal said that his party lawmakers left the Province Assembly hall arguing that the ‘Godawari’ was not the apt location for provincial capital.RJPN lawmakers also walked out of the Province Assembly meeting.

RJPN lawmaker Malamati Rana said that his party lawmakers boycotted the meeting after they were not included in the parliamentary committee to decide the name and capital of Province 7.

Earlier, locals of Dhangadhi, temporary capital of Province 7, had staged a demonstration against the parliamentary committee’s proposal to designate ‘Godawari’ as Province 7 capital.

The agitators had claimed that the proposal to shift the capital just a few kilometres from Dhangadhi was only a political whim.