NC’s Uddhab Thapa appointed Chief Minister of Koshi

ITAHARI: Uddhab Thapa of Nepali Congress (NC) has been appointed as the Chief Minister of Koshi Province.

Province Chief Parshuram Khapung appointed Thapa to the post as per Article 168 (2) of the Constitution of Nepal.

Thapa is the fifth Chief Minister of Koshi Province after Sherdhan Rai, Bhim Acharya, Rajendra Rai and Hikmat Bahadur Karki.

Earlier, Thapa submitted his claim for government formation to Province Chief Khapung by showing the support of 47 members of the 93-member provincial assembly.

Thapa will lead the coalition government of NC, CPN (Maoist Center), CPN (Unified Socialist), and Janata Samajbadi Party. NC has 29 members in the provincial assembly, Maoist Center has 13 (including Speaker), Unified Socialist has four and JSP has one.

Thapa has also included the signature of Speaker Baburam Gautam.

CPN-UML, however, has been maintaining that signature of the Speaker cannot be used to make a claim for government formation. The party said earlier in the day that it would move the court if the government is formed by including the Speaker’s signature.