Sonal vacates Chief Minister’s residence amid rising political pressure

JANAKPURDHAM: After continuous political pressure, outgoing Madhesh Province Chief Minister Jitendra Sonal finally vacated his official residence and vehicle on Friday morning.

Despite an interim order from the Supreme Court, Sonal had not left the Chief Minister’s official residence.

Chief Minister Yadav, who had been forced to live in a rented house despite the Supreme Court’s recognition of him as the Chief Minister, had repeatedly requested Sonal to vacate the residence. Sonal, however, had ignored those requests.

Yadav had even appealed to the leaders of opposition parties for support on the matter. After the administration warned on Thursday that the residence would be forcibly cleared, Sonal was compelled to leave.

The seven-party alliance in the opposition had claimed that UML leader Yadav’s appointment as Chief Minister was unconstitutional and that the swearing-in process was against democratic norms. They argued that Sonal remained the legitimate Chief Minister until the Supreme Court issued its full verdict. Because of this, they had insisted that the residence and vehicle could not be vacated.

Sonal declined to comment on the decision.

Jaynul Rayin, leader of the Loktantrik Samajwadi Party (LSP) Nepal parliamentary party in the Madhesh Province Assembly, said the Chief Minister vacated the residence to prevent the situation from escalating.

“Chief Minister Yadav was warning that he would deploy cadres and the administration to evict us forcibly if the residence were not vacated. UML’s recent activities have created fear in Bara and Parsa. Janakpur is in a festive mood due to Bibaha Panchami. If any untoward incident occurred during such a time, it would send a negative message, so we were compelled,” Rayin said.

Sonal is the parliamentary leader of LSP Nepal in the provincial assembly.

According to sources, Sonal vacated both the official residence and the government vehicle early on Friday morning after the administration issued a warning—reportedly at Yadav’s request—that force would be used to clear the residence.