I won’t resign, says Bagmati Chief Minister Lama

KATHMANDU: Bagmati Province Chief Minister Bahadur Singh Lama, who lost a no-confidence vote in the Nepali Congress (NC) parliamentary party on Tuesday afternoon, has said that he will not step down.

Talking to journalists in Hetauda, Lama insisted that being parliamentary leader and head of the provincial government are separate matters. “This is a coalition government, not a majority one. The decision to remove me as parliamentary party leader does not hold any significance,” Lama said. “I will move forward according to the Constitution and due process. Why should I resign?”

Lama, who claims to have been elected through a democratic process, alleged that conspiracies were hatched against him from within his own party. “I had proposed to take everyone along, but even my ministers became a part of the internal conspiracy against me,” he said.

Earlier, only 15 of the NC’s 37 lawmakers in the Bagmati Province Assembly voted against the no-confidence motion during the party’s parliamentary meeting, while 22 voted in favour of the motion. Lama needed at least 18 votes to retain his position as parliamentary party leader.

As per the party statute, the parliamentary party will now have to elect a new leader.

Indra Singh Baniya, the Bagmati Province Committee President of NC, who led the no-confidence motion against Lama, is expected to be elected as the new parliamentary party leader and become the province’s next Chief Minister.