Nepali Congress calls for interim local polls

The parliamentary party of the opposition Nepali Congress has urged the Pushpa Kumar Dahal-led government to hold interim local elections under the existing structure to sort out the confusion over the number of local units in the federal set-up.

The Local Body Restructuring Commission (LBRC), formed to determine the number and boundaries of local units (village and municipal councils), has proposed 565 local units across the country.

But according to a Kathmandu Post report, the Nepali Congress has found fault with the LBRC's approach and believes that the proposed number of local bodies is "too less" and would not be effective in delivering services to the public.

The Nepali Congress is of the view that holding local level elections is key to implementing the constitution, and failure to do so, could throw the statute implementation process into limbo.

It said that it has decided to hold talks with other political parties on the issue.

Under current structure, there are 3,157 village development committees and 217 municipalities.