A day after a change in coalition in the centre following a dramatic turn of events, the CPN-UML swiftly pulled out from provincial governments in Lumbini and Sudurpaschim provinces on Thursday.

The UML’s withdrawal of support to Chief Minister Jokh Bahadur Mahara in Lumbini Province and the government led by Dirgha Bahadur Sodari in Sudurpashim Province has left both provincial governments in the minority.

On Monday night, the UML ditched its coalition with the CPN (Maoist Centre) and joined hands with the Nepali Congress to form a new government. As per the understanding, UML chair KP Oli will lead a new ‘national consensus’ government for a year and a half. For the remaining term of the present parliament, Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba will be the prime minister.

Both parties, however, are yet to reach an agreement on power-sharing in provinces.

The Congress-UML alliance has a clear majority in all provinces except Madhesh. In Madhesh Province, the two parties need support from either Maoist Centre or a Madhesh-centric party. UML currently leads provincial governments in Karnali and Koshi, while the Nepali Congress leads the Gandaki government. Janamat Party’s Satish Kumar Singh is Madhesh chief minister.

Shalikram Jammkattel of the Maoist Centre leads the Bagmati provincial government with support from coalition partners including the UML.

UML’s Lumbini provincial assembly leader Leela Giri said the party informed assembly Speaker Tularam Gharti about their decision to withdraw support to the government. Additionally, five UML ministers in the government handed over their resignations to the chief minister.

From the UML, Chet Narayan Acharya was the minister for economic affairs, Dinesh Panthi the minister for internal affairs and law, Bhumishwar Dhakal the minister for urban development and water supply, Ratna Khatri the minister for social development, and Arjun Kumar KC the minister for forest and environment in the Mahara-led Cabinet.

Receiving the resignation, Chief Minister Mahara said he would have resigned by Monday had the party waited a few more days, according to minister Acharya. The chief minister also raised concerns about the fiscal year nearing its end, stressing that the resignation of the minister for economic affairs could potentially impact payments for certain projects.

“We submitted our resignations and were also informed that we have withdrawn our support,” said Acharya. “The chief minister said it would have been better if we had not rushed to resign.”

Mahara of the CPN (Maoist Centre) was appointed chief minister on April 5 with the support of 48 provincial assembly members. A total of 29 UML assembly members, 10 from the Maoist Centre, four from the Nagarik Unmukti Party, three from Janata Samajbadi Party Nepal, one from CPN (Unified Socialist), and one independent member supported Mahara.

Ambika Kafle withdrew support after a split in the Janata Samajbadi Party Nepal.

The UML’s move has rendered the government in a minority. To command a majority, support from 44 members in the 87-member assembly is required.

Meanwhile, all three UML ministers in Sudurpashim Province resigned en masse. Minister for Economic Affairs Surendra Bahadur Pal, the Minister for Forests, Environment and Cooperatives and Minister for Internal Affairs Hira Sarki submitted their resignations to Chief Minister Sodari. Thapa and Sarki were assigned portfolios only four days ago.

A UML parliamentary party meeting on Thursday afternoon decided to withdraw support and quit the government.

Sodari, a leader of CPN (Unified Socialist), was appointed chief minister of the province on April 18 with the support of the CPN-UML, CPN (Maoist Centre), Nagarik Unmukti Party and an independent member despite his bitter relations with the UML’s local politicians. The Unified Socialist was born out of a factional dispute in the UML, with former prime ministers Madhav Kumar Nepal and Jhala Nath Khanal forming the new party in 2021.

Of the seven lawmakers from the Nagarik Unmukti Party, only two supported Sodari, while the other five, who are close to party leader Reshamlal Chaudhary, didn’t. In the 53-member provincial assembly, the Maoist Centre has 11 members, the UML has 10, Nagarik Unmukti has 7, and the Unified Socialist has four members. The support of 27 members is required to command a majority in the provincial assembly.