Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Madhesh Chief Minister Saroj Kumar Yadav has resigned from his position.
Yadav tendered his resignation while addressing a meeting of the Madhesh Province Assembly on Wednesday after concluding that he did not have the numbers to win a vote of confidence.
Then-Province Chief Sumitra Subedi Bhandari had appointed Yadav, the leader of the CPN-UML provincial parliamentary party, as Chief Minister on the night of November 9 as per Article 168(3) of the Constitution of Nepal, 2015. He was sworn at 4 am the following day at a resort in Bardibas.
Claiming that the appointment was unconstitutional, Nepali Congress provincial parliamentary party leader Krishna Prasad Yadav and 73 other lawmakers had filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court seeking its annulment.
Hearing the petition, the Supreme Court, on December 1, issued a mandamus order, requiring him to seek a vote of confidence within 24 hours. “If the government secures a vote of confidence, it shall continue; if it fails to do so, the process of forming a government under Article 168(2) should move forward,” the order states.
In line with the Supreme Court’s directive, Chief Minister Yadav had asked the Provincial Assembly Secretariat to convene a session on Wednesday for the vote of confidence. He had urged the Nepali Congress and other parties to support the vote. But opposition lawmakers walked out of the assembly hall. After it became clear that he would not be able to secure the required numbers, he resigned.
Addressing the Assembly, Yadav said lawmakers were compelled to walk out because they faced a moral dilemma. “Although the UML had supported all parties, others failed to reciprocate when the UML needed support,” he added.
He insisted that the Supreme Court’s mandamus established that his appointment was not unconstitutional.
With Yadav’s resignation, the Province Chief will now, in accordance with the Supreme Court’s order, call on parties to form a government under Article 168(2).
