The talk of Janamat Party joining the federal government has been going on for a while. Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal appears keen on accommodating the force that has been consolidating its base in Madhesh in the federal government.

Speaking to the Post, Janamat Party General Secretary Chandan Singh claimed the prime minister has offered one ministry and one state minister position to the party.

Party leader BP Shah said informal discussions between Janamat Party and the prime minister [government] are currently underway. “We will join the federal government if the prime minister agrees to our demands,” said Shah.

Following a recent expansion in the provincial Cabinet, all is not well in Madhesh.

Both the Maoist Centre and Janamat Party are disenchanted with the Janata Samajbadi Party and its chief minister Saroj Kumar Yadav. This, insiders say, has prompted Prime Minister Dahal to check his power—as the Maoist Centre and Janamat Party have been denouncing Yadav for taking unilateral decisions.

Expanding his Cabinet for a third time, Chief Minister Yadav stripped Basanta Kushwaha of the Janamat Party of his portfolio, replacing him with the Unified Socialist’s Govinda Bahadur Neupane as the minister for land management, agriculture, and cooperatives.

At the time, the parliamentary party of the Maoist Centre had also decided to recall its minister and state minister—Sunita Yadav and Rahabar Ansari, respectively—from the Madhesh Cabinet.

“The Janata Samajbadi Party and its chief minister have acted and made decisions in a unilateral manner,” Singh added. “They have been allocating the ministries the way they like, leaving the ruling parties fuming.”

The prime minister is reportedly in a mood to give either the tourism or the federal affairs ministry to the Janamat Party. Nepali Congress is currently in charge of the industry ministry that the Janamat Party eyes.

“Talks with the Janamat Party are underway. It was already agreed that the Janamat Party would be given one ministry,” said Haribol Gajurel, chief adviser to the prime minister.

He, however, said the ministry’s name is yet to be finalised.

Currently, the Nepali Congress is leading nine ministries in the Cabinet, while the CPN (Maoist Centre) leads six ministries and has one minister of state, besides the prime minister. The CPN (Unified Socialist) leads two ministries and one minister of state. The Janata Samajbadi is in charge of two ministries and has one of its leaders as state minister, while the Loktantrik Samajbadi Party and Nagarik Unmukti Party have one ministry each.

Janamat Party quit the federal government on March 31, having been denied a ministerial berth of its choice. The party’s minister, Abdul Khan, submitted his resignation after the Ministry of Industry that his party was laying its claims to was given to the Nepali Congress.

Taking traditional parties by surprise, the CK Raut-led Janamat Party, in its maiden parliamentary election, got six seats and became a national party. In last year’s major elections, Janamat chair CK Raut trounced Janata Samajbadi chief Upendra Yadav with a sizable margin of votes in Saptari. Since then, the newly-emerged and traditional Madhesh-based forces have been active in the game of cornering each other, according to observers.

Madhesh watchers say the ruling coalition believes that its interests would be served better by bringing the Janamat Party into its fold.

Tula Narayan Shah, a political analyst closely following Madhesh, said as the Janamat Party is a prominent emerging force in Madhesh and the fortunes of the Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP) are on the wane, the ruling coalition and the prime minister do not want to keep the Janamat Party out of power.

Shah added that the prime minister appears to be alarmed by the politics of Upendra Yadav. In Madhesh, the JSP is trying to bypass the Maoist Centre, which is leading the federal government at the centre.

“Janamat Party’s main agenda is to join power and deliver. They claim they would fare better than traditional parties in delivery,” Shah said. “Thus, the bargaining.”