Koshi Province Head Parshuram Khapung on Friday made the decision to verify the claims to the post of province chief by Kedar Karki of the Nepali Congress and CPN (Maoist Centre)’s Indra Bahadur Angbo on Saturday.

As per the notice issued by Narendra Shrestha, spokesperson for the office of the province head, the decision came after both Karki and Angbo submitted their claims asserting the support of 47 lawmakers each. The Koshi Province assembly is 93-member strong.

The province head needed to verify the claims as both Karki and Angbo claimed the support of all 29 assembly members of the Nepali Congress.

Khapung, in a meeting with Karki, had proposed verifying the signatures on Saturday. Karki had initially demanded the verification be done on Friday itself but Khapung assured him that the process would be conducted at 8 am on Saturday.

Eight of the 29 Congress assembly members proposed fielding fellow party leader Kedar Karki for the position against the central leadership’s official decision. A meeting of the ruling coalition held at the prime minister’s residence in Kathmandu on Thursday decided to field Angbo in the chief minister race.

CPN-UML, the largest party in the Koshi assembly, backs Karki.

From the Congress-led alliance, Maoist Centre provincial assembly leader Angbo presented his claim before Khapung.

Karki of the Shekhar Koirala faction in the Congress staked his claim to the chief minister's job with the UML’s backing.

Karki presented his claim with the signatures of eight Congress assembly members and 39 UML members. Angbo of the Maoist Centre has presented his set of signatures as well. Angbo has presented the signatures of 47 MPs including 29 of the Congress, the Maoist Centre’s 13, the CPN (Unified Socialist)’s four, and one from the Janata Samajbadi Party.

The move followed the resignation of Hikmat Karki, ahead of a confidence vote in the assembly.

UML provincial assembly leader Karki, who was appointed chief minister as per Article 168 (3) of the constitution on September 8 following a Supreme Court order, had a constitutional obligation to secure a vote of confidence by Saturday.

When a chief minister is appointed in accordance with Article 168(5), securing a trust vote within the next 30 days is a must. Failure to do so will take the province to mid-term polls. The assembly has exhausted all other options to appoint a chief minister since the election last year.