Krishna Prasad Yadav of the Nepali Congress has been appointed chief minister of Madhesh Province on Friday. Province Head Surendra Labh Karna appointed Yadav to the position as per Article 168(2) of the constitution.

Currently, the Madhesh Province assembly has 104 members. Yadav presented his claim to the post with the backing of 77 members.

The province head had called for government formation under Article 168(2) of the constitution, asking any assembly member who can secure majority backing from at least two parties to present a claim by 5pm on Friday.

Yadav becomes the sixth chief minister of Madhesh Province. His government is supported by lawmakers from the Janata Samajadi Party Nepal, Janamat Party, Loktanrik Samajbadi Party, CPN (Maoist Centre), CPN (Unified Socialist), and Nagarik Unmukti Party. The Maoist Centre and the Unified Socialist were recently merged to form Nepali Communist Party but have yet to update it at the provincial assembly.

The appointment follows the resignation of outgoing chief minister Saroj Kumar Yadav on Wednesday. After prolonged negotiations, a seven-party alliance agreed to appoint Yadav, who is the provincial assembly leader of Congress, as chief minister.

The newly appointed chief minister said one minister from each ruling party will take the oath with him, while other Cabinet members will be finalised after securing a vote of confidence.

Previously, Madhesh Province has seen Lalbabu Raut, Saroj Kumar Yadav (Bara), Satish Kumar Singh, Jitendra Prasad Sonal, and Saroj Kumar Yadav (Mahottari) serve as chief ministers.