Kathmandu, Jan. 31 (Reuters): Nepal’s Prime Minister promised today to turn Nepal into a federal state after this year’s constituent assembly elections, a move to stem protests by ethnic Madhesi people in which 11 have died.

Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala also vowed to redraw constituencies for the planned vote, the first in eight years, on the basis of population and geography to raise the representation of different groups, including Madhesis, in the assembly.

Hours after his comments, Madhesi protesters clashed with police in Biratnagar, Koirala’s home town in southeast Nepal. A police officer and a protester were killed. The protesters ransacked a police post and stole a pistol, two rifles, a police official said.

At least two towns remained under curfew today as the protests continued to cripple Terai, Nepal’s economic and industrial hub.

Protests from Madhesis, who live in Nepal’s fertile southern lowlands, have cast a shadow over the landmark deal in 2006 that declared an end to the decade-old Maoist revolt.

The constituent assembly, a key demand of the former Maoist rebels, is meant to draw up a permanent constitution for the country.

“The new constitution will create a federal democratic system,” Koirala told the nation today. The move aims to end centuries of central rule and appeasing ethnic groups complaining of government neglect.