Karnali Chief Minister Mangal Bahadur Shahi and Sudurpaschim Chief Minister Khagaraj Bhatta are set to seek a vote of confidence in their respective provincial assemblies on Tuesday.

Today marks 22 days since Shahi was appointed Chief Minister of Karnali, while Bhatta became Chief Minister of Sudurpaschim five days ago. A motion for the confidence vote was already registered at the Karnali Provincial Assembly Secretariat on Monday.

Shahi is preparing for the floor test amid ongoing disagreements among coalition partners over cabinet expansion and the allocation of ministerial portfolios.

Shahi, parliamentary leader of the Nepali Communist Party (NCP), was appointed Chief Minister with the backing of the CPN-UML. In the 40-member Karnali Provincial Assembly, 21 votes are required for a majority. The ruling coalition currently holds 24 seats: 14 from the NCP and 10 from the UML (including the Speaker).

Because coalition partners failed to reach an agreement on ministry allocation, Chief Minister Shahi remains the sole member of his cabinet even three weeks after taking office.

Meanwhile, the Sudurpaschim Provincial Assembly Secretariat has issued a notice summoning a meeting on Tuesday for Bhatta’s vote of confidence. Bhatta, the parliamentary leader of the NCP, was appointed Chief Minister five days ago, on August 14, with support from the CPN-UML.

In the provincial assembly, the ruling coalition holds 31 seats: 20 from the NCP (excluding the Speaker and one suspended member) and 11 from the UML.

In the 53-member Sudurpaschim Provincial Assembly, 27 votes were previously required for a majority. However, after Congress lawmaker Prakash Bahadur Deuba was dismissed on Tuesday, two seats fell vacant, reducing the assembly’s total membership to 51.

According to Speaker Bhim Bahadur Bhandari, 26 votes are now sufficient to secure a majority. Before Deuba's dismissal, lawmaker Tara Joshi vacated her seat after becoming a federal lawmaker.

Of the 20 NCP lawmakers, seven are former members of then Nagarik Unmukti Party (NUP), three are from then CPN (Unified Socialist), and 10 are from then CPN (Maoist Centre). Lawmakers who joined from the former NUP appear divided into two factions. Six of them skipped Tuesday’s NCP parliamentary party meeting to hold a separate discussion. Only Kailash Chaudhary attended the ruling party's meeting.

An NCP source stated that Deuba was dismissed as a strategic move to ensure the government retains its majority even if five former NUP lawmakers withhold their support.

Although the coalition has 31 seats between the NCP and UML, Bhatta could fall short of the required 26 votes if all six former NUP lawmakers who are holding separate talks absent themselves from the floor test.

NCP lawmaker Om Bikram Bhat said that Chief Minister Bhatta plans to complete cabinet formation immediately after securing the confidence vote.

So far, the chief minister has appointed only three ministers and one state minister, all from the UML. Internal competition for ministerial posts within the NCP prompted Bhatta to prioritise the vote of confidence before expanding the cabinet, according to an NCP lawmaker.