Himal Press 
ITAHARI: Koshi Province Government has formed a team to hold talks with groups that have been demanding the renaming of the province on the basis of identity.
Chief Minister Hikmat Bahadur Karki, who had been saying that there will be no discussion regarding the province’s name, formed the talks team after his government fell into a minority.
Karki has formed a three-member talks team under Minister for Water Supply, Irrigation and Energy Til Kumar Meyangbo. Minister for Industry, Agriculture, and Cooperatives Bhakti Prasad Sitaula and Minister for Social Development Buddhi Kumar Rajbhandari are the members of the team.
Karki will have to seek a vote of confidence within 30 days as coalition partner CPN (Maoist Center) withdrew its support from the government on Tuesday. Maoist Center’s ministers in Karki’s cabinet have already stepped down.
Coalition partners Maoister Center and Janata Samajbadi party (JSP) had repeatedly asked Chief Minister Karki to hold talks with the protesting group. However, Karki had been rejecting the request.
Failure to address the protest of pro-identity groups was one of the reasons that the Maoist Center and JSP cited while withdrawing their support.
