The political aftershocks of the March 4 change in the federal alliance have finally reached Lumbini and Sudurpaschim provinces, forcing incumbent chief ministers to step down from their posts.

Addressing the provincial assembly meeting of Lumbini Province on Thursday, Chief Minister Dilli Bahadur Chaudhary announced his resignation after his attempts to regain majority in the assembly failed. The Nepali Congress-led government had fallen into a minority after the formation of the four-party alliance in Kathmandu last month.

Chaudhary expressed his concerns regarding the ongoing political instability caused by frequent changes in government at both the centre and provinces. “We cannot steer the province to peace and prosperity if there is no political stability. People are immensely frustrated. We are unable to address the people’s grievances but have been focussed on forming and toppling governments,” said Chaudhary. “Chief ministers keep on changing. The question now is whether we can institutionalise federalism or not. I wish the new chief minister will work to protect the federal system of governance,” he added.

Chaudhary expressed his concerns about the practice of changing provincial governments with a change in the political climate at the centre. He also claimed that the provinces lacked adequate resources to function and ‘prove their worth’ and have also failed to generate revenues on their own.

Chaudhary was appointed chief minister of Lumbini on April 27, 2023.

Earlier on Thursday, four coalition partners forged a five-point deal to form the provincial government under the leadership of Jokh Bahadur Mahara of the CPN (Maoist Centre). The CPN-UML, Maoist Centre, Janata Samajwadi Party and CPN (Unified Socialist) signed the agreement to form the Lumbini government under the Maoist leadership. Independent member of the assembly, Khadga Basnet, who was elected from Nawalparasi West 2(A) also signed the agreement.

In the 87-member provincial assembly in Lumbini, an assembly member is currently under suspension. The UML has 29 members, the Congress 27, the Maoist Centre 11, and the Rastriya Prajatantra Party and Nagarik Unmukti Party have four members each. Similarly, the Janata Samajwadi Party, Loktantrik Samajwadi Party and Janamat Party have three members each while the Unified Socialist has one and there is one independent member.

Mahara is likely to be appointed as new chief minister as 44 members, which is a majority in the presently 86-member provincial assembly, form the four ruling parties are on his side.

Likewise in Sudurpaschim, Chief Minister Kamal Bahadur Shah threw in the towel after his frantic attempts to get a vote of confidence failed. He tendered his resignation to Province Head Najir Miya on Thursday evening.

Shah was preparing for the floor test earlier on Thursday. The provincial assembly meeting called for 3:30 pm was postponed twice by the chief minister as Shah was attempting to get support of majority assembly members.

Chief Minister Shah expected that he would get support from all seven members of the Nagarik Unmukti Party. However, two members of the party—Kailash Chaudhary and Tika Thapa who are considered to be close to party chief Ranjita Shrestha—did not come to Dhangadhi from Kathmandu.

Nepali Congress provincial assembly leader Shah had been appointed Sudurpaschim chief minister as per Article 168(3) of the constitution after CPN-UML’s Rajendra Singh Rawal failed to get a vote of confidence in February last year.

Political uncertainty continues in Sudurpaschim due to longstanding dispute between the Nagarik Unmukti Party chair Ranjita Shrestha and her husband Reshamlal Chaudhary on whether to support the provincial government led by Shah. Shrestha on Wednesday asked the provincial assembly secretariat to suspend her party’s Indira Giri from the assembly. The party’s central member Ramlal Dagaura Tharu, the mayor of Tikapur Municipality who is considered close to Shrestha, registered the request for suspension at the assembly secretariat in Dhangadhi amid tight security.

Of the seven Nagarik Unmukti provincial members, five are close to party leader Reshamlal Chaudhary, who is in favour of supporting the incumbent Congress-led government. The two members considered close to party chair Shrestha are against Shah’s government. The Nagarik Unmukti Party, established in 2022, has made a mark in politics following the elections held later that year.

In the 53-member Sudurpaschim assembly, the Congress has 19 members, the Maoist Centre has 10, the UML 9, the Nagarik Unmukti Party 7, the Unified Socialist has three, and the RPP has one, besides an independent lawmaker. Any party claiming the government’s leadership must secure the support of at least 27 assembly members.

Triggered by the March 4 political alliance in Kathmandu, the struggle to retain and change governments in the provinces has become intense in the last few days.

On Wednesday, Gandaki Chief Minister Surendra Raj Pandey of Nepali Congress and Karnali Chief Minister Rajkumar Sharma also put in papers due to the political changes.