Shashank Koirala wrong about water in proposed Province 5, amendments to Indian constitution

Bhrikuti Rai / January 4, 2017

Shashank Koirala.                                                                                                                                          Photo: youtube grab

During an interview aired on Avenues TV on December 27, 2016, Nepali Congress General Secretary Shashank Koirala made claims about water sources in the proposed Province 5 and amendments to the constitutions of the USA and India.

South Asia Check has examined his claims.

1. There is water shortage in the (proposed) Province 5, there are no [water] sources.

The proposed Province Five has six districts including [about half of] Nawalparasi, Rupandehi, Kapilvastu, Dang, Bardiya, Banke. Several Rivers like Rapti, Babai Karnali, and their tributaries flow through these districts. For example the tributaries of the Narayani River flow across Nawalparasi, while Banke has the Rapti River and Bardiya has the Babai and Karnali rivers. Similarly, the Tinaun River flows through Rupandehi. Since this province has several rivers, Shashank Koirala’s claim that it has no water sources is incorrect.

2. The United States constitution was written by 55 people in six months about 250 years ago. There were 27 changes made in the constitution in the first five months after which it has remained the same. (I think) the last amendment was made in 1988.

The United States constitution was written in 1787 and ratified in 1788. Since then 27 amendments to the Constitution have been passed of which the first ten were passed by 1791, while the 27^th amendment was passed in 1992. Therefore Shashank Koirala’s statement about the United States Constitution is partially true.

3. As of now almost 140 changes have been made to the Constitution of India, which was written about 75- 80 years ago.

Since coming into effect in 1950, the Constitution of India has had 101 amendments. The most recent amendment was related to the Goods and Services Tax that was ratified  in 2016. Therefore Koirala’s claim about the amendments to the Constitution of India is incorrect.

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