ITAHARI, SEPTEMBER 2
As the Chief Minister of Province 1 Bhim Acharya is short of six Provincial Assembly members, the leader of the main opposition Rajib Koirala has said Nepali Congress will lead the new provincial government.
Speaking at a journalists' prize distribution ceremony at the Nepali Congress Dharan office, Koirala said, ''The chief minister does not hold majority and hence a new coalition government will be formed.'' Koirala added, ''As the biggest party of the alliance, the new government will be led by Nepali Congress.' Koirala did not hint whether he or someone else from his party would be the chief ministerial candidate.
With the defection of 10 PA members from the erstwhile 51-member-strong CPN-UML to the newly registered CPN(Unified Socialist), Bhim Acharya's Cabinet has been reduced to a minority government with just 41 seats in the 92-member PA. The 93-member PA was reduced to 92 after the CPN-Maoist Centre expelled its PA member and the leader of the parliamentary party Tanka Angbuhang after he joined the CPN-UML to become the minister of Economic Affairs and Planning.
Nepali Congress, CPN- MC, CPN(US) and Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal have jointly said the government of CM Acharya is illegitimate. The four-party alliance, however, has not come up with a common candidate for the new CM.
A version of this article appears in the print on September 3 2021, of The Himalayan Times.
