HETAUDA, OCTOBER 27

Bagmati Chief Minister Asta Laxmi Shakya today tendered her resignation to Governor Yadav Chandra Sharma after having lost the majority required to stay put in the post after 13 UML Provincial Assembly members joined CPN (Unified Socialist).

Before leaving office, she also responded to questions raised by PA members when they had tabled a no-confidence motion on October 10 and said her party would be glad to be in the opposition.

'When I looked at the meeting agenda today, I saw the procedure for the no-confidence motion at the second spot. Why do we have to go to the second spot? Now that I've quit, we don't need to go to the second spot,' she said.

'I felt quitting was in everyone's interest,' said Shakya, who had become the chief minister on August 18.

Meanwhile, the meeting of the Provincial Assembly has been halted until further notice.

With Shakya's resignation, the opposition has forwarded CPN (Unified Socialist) parliamentary party leader Rajendra Pandey for the chief minister's post. Pandey scotched rumours that CPN (US) and Nepali Congress would take turns to lead the government.

A version of this article appears in the print on October 28, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.