MAHENDRANAGAR: The Federal Socialist Forum-Nepal (FSF-N) has elected its State Assembly member Lalbabu Raut as the party parliamentary leader for Province 2.

With the endorsement of Raut's candidacy for the post, he has been viewed as Chief Minister of Province 2. The FSF-N Vice Chairperson Raut, a resident of Parsa, was elected to the State Assembly of Province 2 from Parsa and represents Nepal's marginalised Muslim community.

A meeting of the party that kicked off in Janakpur on Saturday, agreed to pick his name as the provincial parliamentary leader late night Sunday. A total of seven candidates including Raut had registered their names, expressing willingness to become a parliamentary leader in Province 2.

Raut's candidacy was endorsed unanimously as other remaining candidates withdrew their names in course of efforts for consensus.

The FSF-N headed by Upendra Yadav has maximum 29 seats in Province 2 comprising eight districts in the Tarai/Madhesh while the Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal (RJP-N) stays in the second place with 25 seats.