Former commanders and deputy commanders of the dissolved People’s Liberation Army—Barsha Man Pun, Nanda Kishore Pun and Janardan Sharma—and former YCL chief Ganeshman Pun wrote to the party headquarters the six-state pact was against the party’s policy.

They also submitted separate letters to party Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Political Dialogue and Consensus Committee (PDCC) Chairman Baburam Bhattarai, who is a senior Maoist leader. Urging revision to the bases of state delineation, they demanded the creation of Karnali Autonomous Region.

In the letter submitted to the party headquarters, they stressed that the states should be demarcated on the basis of identity and capability by maintaining the cluster of ethnic groups within a state.

“The party had a different perspective on Jhapa, Morang, Sunsari, Kailali and Kanchanpur districts, which should be respected,” they said, adding that the ethnic Magars of Dhaulagiri, Rapti and Lumbini should have been put together in a Magarat-Tamuwan state.

Meanwhile, five Maoist lawmakers registered their note of dissent at the PDCC of the Constituent Assembly against the constitutional deal signed on Saturday night. They objected that some districts with distinct features were demarcated against the spirit of identity and capability. They noted that districts such as Baglung, Myagdi, Salyan and Rukum, where the Magars are in majority, should have been included in Province 5.

Similarly, districts like Dang, Banke, Bardiya, Kailali and Kanchanpur with dominant Tharu populations and common features of identity, language, culture, economy and geography should have comprised a Tharu Autonomous Region.

“The alignment of these five districts in Provinces 5 and 6 will undermine the Tharu culture and identity.

To ensure the linguistic and cultural rights, and economic and social relations of the Tharu community, the districts should have been formed into a separate state,” they argued.

Nine districts of the Mid West and Karnali, which are considered as backward, should form the Karnali Special Autonomous Region under Province 6, they demanded. The lawmakers also sought equal and inclusive representation of backward and minority communities in the state mechanism.

Those registering their dissent are Maoist General Secretary Krishna Bahadur Mahara, Shakti Bahadur Basnyat, Rekha Sharma, Shiva Kumar Mandal Kewat and Yogendra Tamang Ghising.

One dozen Maoist lawmakers and leaders threatened to defy the party whip if they were ordered to pass the constitution draft. In a meeting headed by Ram Kumar Sharma, the leaders discussed the idea of disobeying the party directive unless Saturday’s agreement was corrected.

“Party whip does not apply in the CA. We will flout an order if the party tries to impose the six-province model,” said Sharma.

Prabhu Shah, Ram Chandra Jha, Umesh Yadav, Aja Shankar Nayak, Nisha Kumari Shah, Lalendra Mandal, Pratichya Tiwari, Usha Kiran Ansari, Ashok Jaishwal, Jakir Hussein, Ram Singh and Dil Maya Dhami attended the meeting.