Chief Minister of Province 1 Bhim Prasad Acharya and Chief Minister of Karnali Province Mahendra Bahadur Shahi resigned from their posts on Monday.

While Acharya of the CPN-UML quit after his party fell into minority, Shahi of the CPN (Maoist Centre) vacated his post as part of a power-sharing deal with five-party ruling alliance.

Rajendra Rai of CPN (Unified Socialist) is likely to succeed Acharya as the next chief minister of Province 1. In Karnali Province, Nepali Congress leader Jiban Bahadur Shahi is set to be appointed the next chief minister.

Speaking at the provincial assembly meeting, Acharya announced his resignation on Monday. The meeting was scheduled to decide on a vote of confidence but Acharya announced his resignation before the trust vote began in the provincial assembly.

He later submitted his resignation letter to Provincial Chief Somnath Adhikari.

Acharya, the parliamentary party leader of the UML in Province 1 assembly, resigned only 68 days after his appointment as the chief minister. He was appointed the chief minister on August 26 after the resignation of Sherdhan Rai.

The Acharya-led government fell into minority after 10 of the total 51 UML members joined the CPN (Unified Socialist) led by Madhav Kumar Nepal in the 92-member provincial assembly.

On Wednesday, UML leader Asta Laxmi Shakya, the country’s first female chief minister, resigned from the post of the chief minister of Bagmati Province after her government fell into minority.

After Acharya’s resignation, Provincial Chief Adhikari urged the provincial assembly members to lay claim to the seat of the chief minister and form a coalition government by Tuesday 1 pm, as not a single party has a clear majority in the provincial assembly.

CPN (Unified Socialist) leader Rajendra Rai proposed to form a new provincial government with the support of Nepali Congress, CPN (Maoist Centre) and Janata Samajbadi Party Nepal.

Rajendra Rai, who has the support of 49 out of 92 members of the provincial assembly, submitted a letter to Provincial Chief Adhikari to lay claim to form a new government.

After receiving the letter, the provincial chief has scheduled the oath of office and secrecy of the chief minister for 2pm, Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Shahi, the parliamentary party leader of the CPN (Maoist Centre) of Karnali Province, resigned as per the power sharing deal reached earlier with five-party ruling alliance. Shahi was elected as the chief minister after the provincial elections in 2017.

As per the agreement, Nepali Congress leader Jiban Bahadur Shahi will be appointed the next chief minister in Karnali.