Sudur Paschim Chief Minister Kamal Bahadur Shah has secured a vote of confidence in the provincial assembly.
Chief Minister Shah sought a vote of confidence in the provincial assembly on Thursday following the Nagarik Unmukti Party’s withdrawal of support to his government.
The two major ruling coalition partners in the federal government, Nepali Congress and CPN-UML, had issued a whip to vote for the chief minister. As a result, Shah received 18 votes from the NC and 11 from the UML, totaling 29 votes—sufficient to sustain the government.
In the 53-member provincial assembly, 27 votes are needed to secure a majority.
One NUP lawmaker, Kailash Chaudhary, also voted in favor of Shah, while the other six NUP lawmakers were absent.
Ten lawmakers from the CPN (Maoist Center), three from the CPN (Unified Socialist), Rastriya Prajatantra Party lawmaker Khema Devi Bista, and independent lawmaker Tara Prasad Joshi voted against Shah.
A total of 45 lawmakers participated in the voting.
This is the second time Shah has undergone a floor test within a year.
He first sought a vote of confidence on August 14 last year. At that time, too, 18 lawmakers from the NC and 11 from the UML voted for him.
Following a federal coalition between the NC and UML, Shah, who is from the NC, was appointed chief minister on August 4, 2024, and assumed office on August 5.
At that time, NUP’s seven lawmakers did not attend the confidence vote session. But the NUP expressed support to the government after Shah won the vote of confidence. Shah then appointed NUP’s Rameshwar Chaudhary as minister for industry, tourism, and environment.
However, Chaudhary recently became embroiled in a controversy over alleged financial dealings related to the distribution of subsidized power tillers to farmers. On June 19, Shah asked Chaudhary to resign, but the minister refused. Shah then sacked Chaudhary on June 26. In response, the NUP withdrew its support to the government.
At the federal level, NUP Chairperson Ranjita Shrestha also withdrew support to Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, and the NUP’s Arun Kumar Chaudhary resigned as minister of state for tourism.
According to law, when a supporting party withdraws its support, the chief minister or head of government must seek a vote of confidence within 30 days. With the NUP having withdrawn support nearly a month ago, Shah sought a trust vote on Thursday.
Before taking the floor test, Shah met with NUP patron Resham Lal Chaudhary on July 6, promising to appoint another NUP lawmaker as a minister and reserving the Ministry of Industry, Tourism, Forest, and Environment for the NUP. Shah still appears committed to this promise, and one NUP lawmaker even voted for him on Thursday.
Meanwhile, NUP has undergone a leadership change. On Thursday, the party’s national convention replaced Ranjita Shrestha with Lalbir Chaudhary, Resham’s father and a House of Representatives member, as the chairperson.
Shrestha was implicated in a bribe deal related to the land of Pokhara’s litchi orchard after an audio recording was made public. Shrestha then appointed Senior Vice-chairman Shiva Bastola as acting chairman. But Resham’s faction rejected her decision, and the party’s national convention elected Lalbir as chairman on Thursday.
Shrestha has called the national convention illegitimate.
Amid these internal disputes, it remains to be seen whether the NUP will join Shah’s government in Sudur Paschim.
This is Shah’s second term as chief minister. He previously headed the provincial government for 14 months with support from the Maoist Center and Unified Socialist.
