Bagmati Chief Minister Lama resigns, finally

KATHMANDU: Bagmati Chief Minister Bahadur Singh Lama has resigned from his position.

He submitted his resignation to the Office of the Province Chief in Hetauda on Sunday evening.

Lama, a Bagmati Province Assembly member from Nuwakot, had earlier refused to step down despite losing the Nepali Congress parliamentary party leadership election in the provincial assembly to Indra Singh Baniya on July 30.

According to the Nepali Congress statute, only the party’s parliamentary leader is eligible to lead the government.

However, Lama had insisted that he still commanded a majority in the assembly and challenged his rivals to oust him through a no-confidence motion. He finally agreed to resign following intervention by NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba.

According to NC sources, Lama has set continuity of the three ministers, whom he appointed before the leadership vote, in the government as a condition for his resignation.

His resignation has cleared the way for the formation of a new government in Bagmati Province under Baniya’s leadership.

A coalition of the Nepali Congress and CPN-UML currently holds power in the province.