Province 1 has officially adopted 'Koshi' as its new name.
A majority of members of parliament (MPs) present in the provincial assembly meeting today endorsed 'Koshi Province' as the official name for Province 1.
Eighty-two MPs voted for the motion while four cast their votes against the motion. Six members abstained from voting.
CPN (Unified Socialist) and Janata Samajbadi stood against the motion. Of Nepal's seven provinces, Koshi is the last one to get a name.
Earlier, Rajendra Kumar Rai and Kamal Jabegu, leaders of CPN (Unified Socialist), registered a different proposal demanding that the province be named 'Kirat-Limbuwan- Sagarmatha'. But the proposal was rejected by the majority of lawmakers.
In the 93-member Province Assembly, there are 40 MPs from the UML, 29 from the Nepali Congress (NC), 13 from the Maoist Center, six from the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), four MPs from the CPN (Unified Socialist) and one MP from the Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP).
Minister Limbu was not allowed to take part in voting.
JSP leader and Minister for Health Nirmala Limbu was not allowed to take part in the voting.
Limbu was not allowed to vote after she entered the provincial assembly hall only after the voting process started.
She returned from the premises itself after being denied from entering the province assembly hall.
After endoring 'Koshi' as the name for Province 1, the province assembly has been adjourned until a further notice.
Meanwhile, various ethnic-based groups including Limbuwan-Kirat Joint Struggle Committee staged a demonstration against the major parties’ decision to adopt 'Koshi' as the official name for Province 1.
The demonstrators gathered at Devkota chowk demanding that the province’s new name reflect the region’s ethnic identities.
