Lawmakers from the Pushpa Kamal Dahal-Madhav Nepal faction in Province 1 have registered a no-confidence motion against Chief Minister Sherdhan Rai on Sunday.

Thirty-seven provincial assembly members led by Indra Bahadur Aangbo have signed for the motion which was registered at the province assembly secretariat at 10:40am.

“We have registered a no-confidence motion against the chief minister,” said Aangbo, a leader who was sacked as a minister by Rai on Saturday. “We have proposed Bhim Acharya as the new chief minister.”

The motion was proposed by Aangbo and seconded by Laxman Tiwari.

The faction is making preparations to propose province lawmaker Bhim Acharya as their candidate for the post of chief minister. Rai had defeated Acharya by two votes during the parliamentary party elections.

In the 93-member Provincial Assembly, Rai has only 20 of the 67 seats that went to the Nepal Communist Party—51 to former UML and 16 to the former Maoist party.

The Dahal-Nepal faction currently controls 47 seats.

Article 188 (4) of the constitution says one-fourth of the total number of the assembly members may table in writing a motion of no-confidence against the chief minister.

Earlier on Sunday, one minister and two state ministers of the Province 1 government had resigned from the Rai Cabinet.

Social Development Minister Jiwan Ghimire, Social Development State Minister Jasmaya Gajmer and Industry, Tourism, Forest and Environment State Minister Bijay Bishwas have tendered their resignation, according to Tilak Bahadur Basnet, personal aide to Ghimire.

All three ministers are from the Dahal-Nepal faction of the Nepal Communisty Party.

The no-confidence motion in Province 1 follows a similar move in Bagmati on Friday.

On Friday, as many as 45 members of the Bagmati provincial assembly registered a no-confidence motion against Chief Minister Dormani Poudel.