Himal Press 
DHANGADHI: Kamal Bahadur Shah of Nepali Congress has been sworn in as the Chief Minister of Sudurpaschim Province.
Province Chief Devraj Joshi administered the oath of office and secrecy to Shah amid a ceremony on Friday. Joshi also administered the oath of office and secrecy to two ministers – Prakash Deuba of Nepali Congress and Naresh Shahi of CPN (Unified Socialist). While Deuba has been given the phyiscal infrastructure development portfolio, Shahi will hold the internal affairs and law portfolio.
Shah was appointed Chief Minister on Thursday after CPN-UML’s Rajendra Singh Rawal, who was appointed chief minister a month ago, failed to get a vote of confidence in the province assembly. Rawal was appointed chief minister with the support of the seven-party coalition. He, however, couldn’t win the support of Nagarik Unmukti Party – one of the coalition partners – in the floor test on Thursday.
Nagarik Unmukti Party had said it won’t give a vote of confidence to Rawal if its demands are not addressed. The party has been demanding for the immediate release of its founding president and other leaders and cadres convicted for the infamous Tikapur incident of 2015.
Shah will have to get a vote of confidence within a month.
Nepali Congress is the largest party in the 53-member province assembly with 19 seats.CPN (Maoist Center) has 11 members, CPN-UML has 10, Nagarik Unmukti has seven, Unified Socialist has four and Rastriya Prajatantra Party has one. There is also one independent member in the province assembly.
