An alliance of seven political parties in the Madhesh Provincial Assembly has brought a motion against Speaker Ram Chandra Mandal, accusing him of acting in a partisan manner and violating assembly norms.

The motion, which charges Mandal of failing to uphold the dignity of the Speaker’s office, has been signed by 74 members of the 107-member provincial assembly. Deputy Speaker Babita Raut has already processed the motion.

Leaders from the Nepali Congress, Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP) Nepal, Janamat Party, CPN (Maoist Centre), Loktantrik Samajbadi Party (LSP), CPN (Unified Socialist) and the Nagarik Unmukti Party have backed the motion.

In the joint motion, the parties accused Speaker Mandal of repeatedly running the assembly on the instructions of one particular party and of “sidelining opposition lawmakers.” They also accused him of barring assembly party leaders from using the rostrum, defying the decision of the Business Advisory Committee.

“The Speaker has acted beyond his constitutional and procedural authority,” said Saroj Kumar Yadav, the JSP’s provincial assembly party leader from Bara. “He has conducted assembly proceedings in favour of the ruling party and ignored the voices of the opposition.”

The motion cites clause 180 (1) of the Provincial Assembly Regulations, 2018, allowing members to move such a proposal with the backing of one-fourth of the total assembly members.

Those signing the motion include Kumar Kant Jha (chief whip, Nepali Congress), Ram Ashish Yadav (chief whip, JSP Nepal), Mahesh Prasad Yadav (leader, Janamat Party), Bharat Prasad Sah (provincial assembly party leader of the Maoist Centre), Jaynul Rain (the LSP’s provincial assembly leader), Kanish Patel (chief whip of Unified Socialist), and Urmila Devi Singh (provincial assembly party leader of Nagarik Unmukti Party).

According to eyewitnesses, while staff at the Provincial Assembly Secretariat were preparing to register the motion, Speaker Mandal suddenly arrived and assaulted LSP lawmaker Upendra Mahato and Janamat Party’s provincial assembly party leader Mahesh Yadav.

Janamat Party lawmaker Chandan Singh told the Post that Speaker Mandal also manhandled and behaved indecently towards several lawmakers from the seven-party alliance present at the scene.

The lawmakers were inside the Deputy Speaker’s office when the incident occurred. They were later rescued by police. “The Speaker entered from the back gate of the Assembly building with around 50 people and attacked us,” said Singh. The situation at the Provincial Assembly Secretariat remains tense, with additional security forces deployed to prevent further clashes.

Chief District Officer of Dhanusha Prem Prasad Luitel said additional security personnel from Nepal Police and the Armed Police Force were deployed after provincial assembly members requested police help. The lawmakers were then escorted safely out of the building.

Meanwhile, Speaker Mandal has issued a notice stripping five lawmakers—who had failed to attend ten consecutive regular sessions after the registration of the motion against him—of their positions. All five belong to parties within the seven-party alliance.

The sacked lawmakers include Urmila Devi Singh of the Nagarik Unmukti Party, and Manish Kumar Suman, Sanjay Kumar Sah, Singhasan Sah Kalawar, and Sharada Shankar Prasad Kalawar—all from the Janata Samajbadi Party.

Tension flared up in Madhesh as the then Madhesh Province Head Sumitra Subedi Bhandari, who left Janakpur for Kathmandu at 4 am on Monday citing health reasons, appointed CPN-UML leader Saroj Kumar Yadav as the new chief minister of Madhesh. The new chief minister took oath of office and secrecy in a Bardibas-based hotel.

The seven parties took to the street to protest Yadav’s controversial appointment under Article 168(3), bypassing coalition negotiations under Article 168(2).

Speaker Mandal, elected as CPN-UML candidate, has faced criticism for alleged procedural bias and for allowing assembly sessions to proceed without adequate opposition representation.