Himal Press 
POKHARA: Gandaki Chief Minister Surendra Raj Pandey has secured a vote of confidence in the Gandaki Province Assembly.
Pandey, the parliamentary party leader of the Nepali Congress (NC), received 31 votes in the 60-member province assembly in the voting held on Monday. Twenty-seven assembly members from the Nepali Congress, two from Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) and one from Nepal Samajbadi Party (NSP) as well as independent member Rajeev Gurung voted in favor of the motion of vote of confidence tabled by Pandey.
Assembly members of CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Center) voted against the motion.
After Phanindra Devkota of NSP, who was elected with the election symbol of CPN (Maoist Center), crossed the floor and voted in favor of Pandey’s motion of vote of confidence, assembly members from UML and Maoist Center changed slogans against Nepal.
Likewise, independent member Rajeev Gurung, who earlier was a part of the UML-Maoist Center government led by Khaga Raj Adhikari switched allegiance and gave a trust vote to Pandey.
“Since I was elected to the province assembly as the common candidate of the Nepali Congress, Maoist Center and NSP alliance, my decision to give trust vote to Chief Miniter Pandey should not be seen otherwise,” Devkota told media after the voting.
