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Kathmandu: Kankai Municipality in Jhapa welcomes every visitor with a full-size statue of then King Prithvi Narayan Shah, along with one of his noble sayings.
President of Rastriya Prajatantra Party Jhapa, Keshav Ojha, says that the statue of Prithvi Narayan installed at the entrance of the municipality will remind the citizens of the contributions of the unifier of modern Nepal.
Also the former principal of Himali Secondary School in Birtamod, Ojha said the federal government only recently accepted the demand of the people to give a national holiday on his birth anniversary but Kankai municipality has already paid its due respect to the nation-builder.
Mayor of Kankai municipality Rajendra Pokharel said that the statue was installed so that everyone who sees it including travelers on the highway nearby could pay their respects to the nation builder. “Some people tried to make fun of me as to why a mayor who has communist beliefs installed a king’s statute”, Mayor Pokharel said and added that party beliefs may be different but Prithivi Narayan Shah who led the unification of this country is equally respected by all Nepalis.
The birth anniversary of the founder of the nation, Prithvi Narayan Shah, is celebrated on the 27th of the month of Poush in the Lunar Calender as National Unity Day. It was on this day last year the Kankai Municipality unveiled the statute. The installation took place during the first tem of Mayor Pokharel, who has been reelected to the post, both times representing the CPN-UML.
According to Mayor Pokhrel, a sculptor from Jhapa Himmat Nembang carved the statute of Prithvi Narayan Shah on a single stone brought from Miklajung in Morang district.
Chief administrative officer of the municipality Mohan Kumar Neupane shared that the municipality also organized an oratory contest on ‘Prithvinarayan Shah and modern Nepal’ this year. Schools within the municipality participated in the competition.
Similarly, the Kachankabal Rural Municipality has also built a full-size statue of Prithivi Narayan Shah in Pathamari, Ward No. 5.
Former Chair of the municipality Anjar Alam, who is a leader of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party, shared that the party had adopted a policy of honoring Prithvi Narayan Shah as a symbol of national unity and a nation builder. Kachankabal has also been organizing special programmes to mark the birth anniversary of Prithivi Narayan Shah on Poush 27 every year.
Meanwhile, the Haldibari rural municipality has been giving annual local holiday in honor of the contribution of Prithivi Narayan Shah on Prithivi Jayanti. Chairperson Rabindra Lingden claims that the rural municipality was the first local level to announce a public holiday on Prithivi Jayanti since the country adopted a federal system of governance.
Along with the pictures of the President and the Prime Minister, chairperson of the municipality Lingden has been keeping a portrait of Prithvi Narayan Shah in his office for the past five years. His decision to announce a local holiday on Poush 27 was followed by Kachanakabal and Gauriganj municipalities as well. Lingden has been re-elected to the post of Chair of Haldibari municipality representing the Rastriya Prajatantra Party.
