Kathmandu, May 2

After Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Bimalendra Nidhi quit as home minister, the Nepali Congress party is yet to decide who to name for the post.

A Nepali Congress source said NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba was mulling whether to give a new name or assign a senior NC minister in the coalition Cabinet to hold the post for a ‘short time’.

Deuba is considering Minister for Defence Bal Krishna Khand as a likely place holder for the berth, where former home ministers from NC — Purna Bahadur Khadka and Krishna Prasad Sitaula — are also being considered as possible candidates for the coveted but challenging tasks, especially during elections.

The government has announced   local level elections in two phases— on May 14 in Provinces 3, 4, and 6; and on June 14 in Provinces 1, 2, 5, and 7.

Expressing his dismay over the ruling Nepali Congress and CPN-Maoist Centre’s decision to register impeachment motion against Chief Justice Sushila Karki in the House on Sunday, Nidhi had immediately tendered his resignation to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal.

Dahal, however, has not accepted his resignation and he is awaiting a “go ahead” call from NC President Deuba, according to a source.

NC leader and Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Ramesh Lekhak said the decision on who to appoint home minister was up to the party leadership and they couldn’t do so till today because of filing of the nominations of party candidates for the local levels for the forthcoming elections on May 14.

The PM’s Political Adviser Chakrapani Khanal said PM Dahal would appoint anyone proposed by the NC for the post, as the portfolio has already been given to the largest ruling party.

Despite Deuba and his associate’s requests to withdraw his resignation, Nidhi turned it down and he is leaving the minister’s quarters and shifting to his own residence in New Baneshwor tomorrow, according to his press adviser Ramjee Dahal. “He has no second thoughts about his resignation,” adviser Dahal told The Himalayan Times.