A day after the split in the CPN-UML, the party on Thursday changed the chief minister in Province 1.

Party Secretary Bhim Acharya has been appointed the new chief minister in place of Sherdhan Rai.

Earlier in the day, Rai resigned as the leader of the UML Parliamentary Party to pave the way for Acharya’s election to the post.

Province Chief Som Nath Pyasi administered the oath of office and secrecy to Acharya after his appointment.

“Newly appointed Chief Minister Acharya has taken charge after the Province chief administered the oath of office to him,” said Anil Raj Dhami, Acharya’s personal secretary.

In the 93-strong provincial assembly, the UML had won 51 seats.

The Nepali Congress has 21 members, the Maoist Centre has 15 (including the Speaker) and Janata Samajbadi Party has 3. Rastriya Prajatantra Party and Sanghiya Loktantrik Rastriya Manch have one seat each.

Tanka Angbuhang, Maoist Centre member, remains suspended as he had defected to the UML in March.

The CPN (Unified Socialist) claims to have 15 members from the UML with it.

After the March 7 decision to invalidate the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) and revive the UML and the Maoist Centre, the Congress-Maoist alliance, with the support from the Nepal group, was planning to unseat Rai. Since Acharya was with the Nepal faction then, he was proposed as the new chief minister.

Acharya, however, chose to switch sides after Oli’s assurances that he would be made chief minister.

Last week, Oli had also effected a change in government leadership in Bagmati, installing Asta Laxmi Shakya as the chief minister in place of Dor Mani Poudel.

Shakya too was with the Nepal faction earlier.

Shakya has already fallen into a minority with one of her ministers siding with the CPN (Unified Socialist) and a few of them, including Rajendra Pandey, abandoning the UML.