The Nepali Congress, Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) and the Janata Samajbadi Party have registered a no-confidence motion against Lumbini Chief Minister Shankar Pokhrel, a key ally of CPN-UML chair and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.

The parties have proposed Maoist Centre leader Kul Prasad KC as the new chief minister.

“We have registered a no-confidence motion against Chief Minister Shankar Pokhrel with signatures of 41 members of the assembly,” Dama Kumari Sharma, a member of the Lumbini Provincial Assembly representing the Maoist Centre, told the Post over the phone. “We need 43 members to unseat Pokhrel. And we are confident of getting that number.”

In the 87-member Lumbini Provincial Assembly, the UML had won 41 seats, Nepali Congress 19 seats, Maoist Centre 20 seats, Janata Samajbadi six seats and Rastriya Janamorcha one seat. Since two of the Maoist Centre members were suspended, the assembly is currently 85-member strong.

As many as 19 members from the Congress, 17 from the Maoist Centre and five from Janata Samajbadi Party have signed the motion.

Though the Janata Samajbadi Party has sided with the Congress and the Maoist Centre in filing the no-confidence motion, one of its members, Kalpana Pandey, has not signed the motion because she could not get the consent from party chair Mahantha Thakur, according to Sharma.

Thakur and Rajendra Mahato of the Janata Samajbadi Party are in negotiations with Oli.

The Congress, the Maoist Centre and the Janata Samajbadi Party currently have 41 votes with them, as Pandey has not given her consent.

According to Krishna Dhoj Khadka, another Maoist Centre member, the only member of Rastriya Janamorcha Tara GC has given her consent to support the motion as per her party’s policy.

“I was out of station so I could not sign the motion,” said GC.

If Janata Samajbadi’s Pandey refuses to support, the Congress, the Maoist Centre and the Janata Samajbadi Party will need one vote, which they expect to get from the Madhav Nepal-Jhala Nath Khanal faction.

If the Nepal-Khanal faction in the UML crosses the floor, it could be another setback for Oli, as four of the UML members in Karnali on Friday defied the party whip and voted for Mahendra Bahadur Shahi’s chief ministerial post.

On Thursday, the Nepali Congress, the Maoist Centre and Janata Samajbadi Party filed a no-confidence motion against Gandaki Chief Minister Prithvi Subba Gurung.

Sensing that a no-confidence motion was coming, Gurung on Wednesday night prorogued the Gandaki Provincial Assembly session.

The parties that have filed the no-confidence motion have sought a special session.

KC, who has been proposed as the new chief minister, resigned earlier on Monday as the internal affairs minister of the province. Sudarshan Baral, another Maoist Centre member also has resigned as social development minister.

The Lumbini Provincial Assembly was prorogued on April 6.

The provincial members who have filed the no-confidence motion are preparing to demand a special session of the assembly.