Rupandehi, April 30

Political parties and local stakeholders have stressed that a federal province comprising the Lumbini area should be named after the birthplace of the Buddha.

This is necessary to save the international fame and image of Lumbini, they said.

The voice was expressed at a gathering held at Butwal of Rupandehi district by a civilian group on Monday.

The speakers of the gathering expressed their common voice that the province should be named after Lumbini, which is most relevant nationally and internationally.

Lumbini zonal secretary of the CPN-UML Khim Lal Bhattarai said that naming the province after Lumbini will receive global recognition. He pledged that he would lobby within his party for the provincial naming.

Rupandehi district joint in-charge of the UCPN-Maoist Madhav Sharma said that Lumbini is the most appropriate name for this province because it helps to make Nepal known in the rest of the world.

Sharma expressed his hope that his party would consider this while naming the federal province.

Local civil society leader DR Ghimire said that Lumbini is the most appropriate name for the province because of its historical, archaeological and cultural importance. He demanded that the provincial capital should be based in Rupandehi district.

Other making demands for naming the province after Lumbini were businessmen Surendra Shrestha and Tej Kumar Pathak, industrialist Ejaj Alam, writer Rishi Ajad, Nepal Workers and Peasants Party worker Shankar Bhandari, hotelier Mahendra Shrestha and Samundra GC.

They warned of a protest movement if the province is named in other ways.