NUP’s Laxman Kishor Chaudhary submits claim to form govt in Sudurpashchim

KATHMANDU: Laxman Kishor Chaudhary of the Nagarik Unmukti Party (NUP) has submitted his claim to form the government in Sudurpashchim Province.

Chaudhary staked his claim to Province Chief Nazir Miyan on Sunday with the support of 27 province assembly members from the Nepali Congress (NC), CPN (Unified Socialist), NUP and Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP). The NC holds 18 seats in the province assembly, while NUP has seven, Unified Socialist has four and RPP has one.

Aspiring chief ministers must secure support from 27 members to stake their claim for government formation in Sudurpashchim.

The Sudurpashchim Province Assembly comprises 53 members.

NUP was seeing a rift regarding which coalition to support for government formation. While party chairperson Ranjita Shrestha was for supporting the ruling coalition of CPN-UML and Maoist Center, her husband Resham Lal Chaudhary, also the patron of NUP, favored joining hands with the NC. Chairperson Shrestha had previously dismissed province assembly member Indira Giri from the party, while suspending another member, Ghanashyam Chaudhary, the parliamentary party leader, for three months as the intra-party dispute intensified.

Meanwhile, Unified Socialist’s decision to back NUP for government formation, along with the NC, is likely to face opposition at the central level, as the party is a part of the five-party coalition led by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal.