Himal Press 
LUMBINI: Jog Bahadur Mahara of CPN (Maoist Center) has been appointed as the Chief Minister of Lumbini Province.
Province Chief Amik Sherchan appointed Mahara, the parliamentary party leader of the Maoist Center in Lumbini Province Assembly, as the fifth chief minister of the province as per Article 168 (2) of the Constitution of Nepal, 2015.
According to Bhumishwar Dhakal, the spokesperson for the Office of the Province Chief, Mahara has secured the support of 48 provincial assembly members of CPN-UML, Maoist Center, CPN (Unified Socialist), Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP) and an independent member.
Mahara replaces Dilli Bahadur Chaudhary of Nepali Congress who stepped down on Thursday after it became certain that he won’t be able to secure a vote of confidence in the provincial assembly. Interstingly, Chaudhary was elected chief minister of the province with the support of Maoist Center. However, the party withdrew its support extended to Chaudhary following the formation of a new alliance in the center with CPN-UML and Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP).
Before entering full-time politics, Jog Bahadur Mahara was involved in the teaching profession for 13 years. He served as a primary school teacher from 1994 to 1996 and a secondary school teacher from 1999 to 2007. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Economics. After joining Maoists, he has been working closely with the party Chairperson Pushpa Kamal Dahal. He served as Dahal’s personal secretary for six years until 2022. He is a standing committee member of Maoist Center.
He was elected to the Lumbini Province Assembly from Rolpa 1(1) seat.
