Despite backing Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s government during the confidence vote last year, the Janata Samajbadi Party Nepal (JSP-Nepal) has now formally withdrawn its support, citing the government’s failure to deliver on its commitments on governance, corruption control, and constitutional amendments.

When Oli became prime minister for the fourth time in July last year, he commanded almost a two-thirds majority with the backing of his own party, the CPN-UML, and the Nepali Congress. Yet he left JSP-Nepal out of the government despite its support for him. Later, however, the Janata Samajbadi Party, which was formed after a split in the JSP-Nepal and has seven seats in the lower house, secured two ministers, while the mother party, with five seats, remained outside the government.

The party’s withdrawal after being on the sidelines for a year deals a fresh blow to Oli’s coalition and raises questions about the ruling alliance’s reform pledges.

Over the past year, the government made two attempts to bring JSP-Nepal into the Cabinet: first, to pass a disputed land-related ordinance, and then again when the ordinance was reintroduced as a bill.

Although the Congress-UML alliance held a near two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives, it lacked a majority in the National Assembly, making JSP-Nepal’s support crucial for the ordinance’s passage in the assembly. The party has three seats in the upper house. However, after the party declined to cooperate, the government withdrew the ordinance.

The government made a second attempt to bring in JSP-Nepal when it reintroduced the withdrawn ordinance as a bill. However, after facing strong objections from major parties, including the Congress, the ‘Bill to amend some Nepal acts related to land, 2025’ was removed from the House of Representatives agenda on July 10.

This Monday, the day the government completed its first year in office, there was a meeting at the Prime Minister’s residence in Baluwatar, with Prime Minister Oli, Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba, and leaders of JSP-Nepal among the attendees.

Although JSP-Nepal had announced its intent to withdraw support from the government a month ago, the decision was finalised amid discussions about the party’s possible entry into the Cabinet.

At its central committee meeting in Kathmandu on June 21-22, JSP-Nepal concluded that the federal coalition had failed on key fronts such as governance, corruption control, and constitutional amendments, which were the lynchpin of last July’s seven-point agreement between Congress and UML. The meeting mandated its parliamentary party to reconsider its support for the government.

Against this backdrop, JSP-Nepal leaders met with the prime minister on Monday, again discussing the possibility of joining the government.

But on Wednesday, the party submitted a letter to Speaker Devraj Ghimire, formally withdrawing its support for the government.

“I submitted a letter to the Speaker notifying him of our party’s withdrawal of support for the government,” Rekha Yadav, the party's chief whip, told the Post.

During Monday's discussion with ruling party leaders, JSP-Nepal demanded that the party’s agenda be accommodated and incorporated should it join the government. It called for action against rampant corruption, promotion of good governance, and improved service delivery.

However, party leaders also questioned whether the government was even capable of addressing their demands, given the government’s repeated failure to live up to its promises.

“The executive council meeting had already decided to withdraw our support for this government, but it was put on hold after the ruling parties proposed a dialogue,” party spokesperson Manish Suman told the Post on Wednesday. “But we have now finally revoked our support.”

Previously, the party had been accused of bargaining with the government for key positions, including that of deputy prime minister, in exchange for supporting the land ordinance in the National Assembly. At the time, JSP-Nepal claimed that reports suggesting it was negotiating to join the government had been deliberately leaked by the Prime Minister’s Secretariat to tarnish the party’s image.

The party had certain reservations on the land ordinance, and consequently chose not to join the government. The government registered the land bill in the House of Representatives on May 6 without amending the disputed provisions. In response, on May 20, the party submitted a 13-point proposal seeking amendments to the bill.

JSP-Nepal chair Upendra Yadav has long been criticised for sidelining his political agenda in pursuit of power. However, this time, he appears to be standing firm on political issues, particularly over the land bill.

According to Chandra Kishor, a Madhesh analyst, Upendra Yadav, who rose to national politics through the Madhesh movement, does not like to be away from power. But this time, Kishor says, some made his party decide against joining the government.

Kishor argues that the land bill does not serve grassroots interests and that voices against it have emerged from the ground level, which the party could not ignore.

He added that JSP-Nepal continuously led the Madhesh province government for seven years since the inception of federalism. But the province is now under the control of its archrival, the Janamat Party. Possibly sensing his party won’t be able to lead the Madhesh province immediately, Yadav might have chosen not to join the central government so as to rebuild his base in Madhesh.

“Upendra Yadav had some vague demands. One of them was to have a powerful portfolio in the Cabinet,” analyst Kishor said. “But when he sensed that these demands were unlikely to be met, he decided to stay away from the government.”

Although the withdrawal of support will not affect the government’s standing in the House of Representatives, where JSP-Nepal has five members, it significantly alters the balance in the 59-member National Assembly.

Previously, the ruling alliance had the backing of 31 lawmakers in the upper house. Following JSP-Nepal’s exit, the alliance now commands just 28 seats: Nepali Congress (16), CPN-UML (10), Loktantrik Samajwadi Party (1), and one nominated member.

The opposition bloc now holds a majority with 30 members: Maoist Centre (17), CPN (Unified Socialist) (8); JSP-N (3); one nominated, and one from Janamorcha. The chair of the National Assembly is not counted in the total.

The shift means the Oli government will now struggle to pass bills in the upper house.

Despite the support withdrawal, Prime Minister Oli is not constitutionally required to seek a vote of confidence in the House of Representatives.

Article 100(2) of the Constitution mandates such a vote only if a party that is participating in government withdraws support.

JSP-Nepal, although supporting the government, was not a coalition partner.