DHANGADI, JANUARY 7
Nagarik Unmukti Party has emerged as a key player in Sudurpaschim Province this time around, and as the race to form a government begins in the province, the party, which has put conditions for the same, seems confused whether or not to join the government.
Just a week ago, NUP Spokesperson Damodar Pandit and other leaders had met Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and clarified their stance that they wouldn't support or join the government unless their leader Resham Chaudhary was released.
Following this, Chaudhary himself had said they would join the government at the centre should he and other inmates be released and the party given the opportunity to lead the government in Sudurpaschim Province.
A few days later, however, the chairperson of the party Ranjita Chaudhary spoke to the media denying her party had any claim on Sudurpaschim Province government and reiterated Resham Chaudhary's release was the main precondition of the party.
The wish to join the government isn't difficult to read in the remarks of the PA members of the party. Leaders of the party are coming forward and talking to the media, and their remarks do not match up, as each of them air different opinions.
And, as the party is dithering on joining the government under the status quo in the province, it has got the Nepali Congress excited. The party, which emerged as the largest in this election, seems hopeful to form its own government by taking the disgruntled NUP on board. Congress is said to be also holding talks with the party.
The Province Assembly that requires 27 seats to form a government has NC with 19 seats, NUP with seven seats, CPN (Unified Socialist) with four seats. While CPN- MC and CPN-UML has 11 and 10 seats respectively, there is an independent PA member elected.
Meanwhile, with the election of Rameshwor Chaudhary as parliamentary party leader for the province, an inter-party bickering has started of late in NUP. With Chaudhary's election as PP leader, he will by default become the chief minister and lead the upcoming government here if it gets an opportunity to form a government.
A number of party PA members, however, are reluctant to accept him as PP leader and claimant of the CM's post. The party's PA member Laxman Kishor Chaudhary has laid a competing claim on the chief minister's post. "Given my contribution to the formation of the party and the suffering I have been through due to the Tikapur incident, I am the deserving candidate for PP leader and chief minister," he said.
He further clarified that Resham Chaudhary's release was still his party's main agenda. "We won't join government under other's leadership. If we get the CM's post we will be in the government," he said.
A version of this article appears in the print on January 8, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
