The meeting of the members of the provincial assembly party representing the Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Madhav Nepal-led faction of the ruling Nepal Communist Party ousted Chief Minister Sherdhan Rai, an ally of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli as the parliamentary party leader on Wednesday evening.

According to members of the Province 1 Assembly, the meeting of the parliamentary party in which 40 members were present has elected party’s Standing Committee member Bhim Acharya as the new parliamentary party leader.

“We have elected Bhim Acharya as our parliamentary party leader suspending Sherdhan Rai,” said Indra Aangbo, who was a minister in Rai's cabinet. “Both the sides are trying to attract members of the provincial assembly.”

One of the 37 assembly members who had signed the no-confidence motion Kala Ghale has changed her side to Rai’s camp while Aangbo claimed that two members of Rai's camp have joined them.

Rai, a close confidante of the prime minister KP Sharma Oli, had defeated Acharya in a vote to elect the provincial assembly party leader held three years ago by two votes with one vote invalid.

Of the 93 members in the Province 1 assembly the Nepal Communist Party has 67 seats.

On December 26 the provincial assembly party meeting of the Dahal-Nepal faction of the Bagmati Province had decided to oust Chief Minister Dormani Poudel as the parliamentary party leader and had elected Asta Laxmi Shakya as the new leader.

Poudel has sought clarification from 30 members of the provincial assembly who were involved in registering the no-confidence motion against him on December 25.

“The leaders have responded to the clarification saying that there was no meaning of such clarification because Poudel was already ousted by the provincial assembly party and the no-confidence motion had been registered at the assembly secretariat,” said Ratna Dhakal, a member of the assembly.