The CPN (Maoist Centre) has quit the Koshi provincial government. The provincial parliamentary party meeting of the Maoist Centre held on Monday decided to recall all three ministers who represented the party.

Provincial assembly leader Indra Angbo said Rajendra Karki, Ganesh Uprety and Narayan Burja of the party will resign as ministers.

“The party will also withdraw its support to the government and ask the province head to make a call for forming a new government.”

Nepali Congress lawmaker Kedar Karki was appointed chief minister in October last year. Karki was appointed as per Article 168(5) of the constitution after he laid claim to lead a new government producing the signatures of 47 lawmakers, which is a majority in the 93-member provincial assembly, before the province head.

Karki, who had revolted against the party’s decision to support a Maoist lawmaker for chief minister, had passed the floor test with the overwhelming support of the provincial assembly. The Maoist Centre had also supported the chief minister during the floor test.

Kedar Karki is the eighth chief minister of Koshi Province since the 2017 elections. Karki’s appointment is the fifth since the assembly election in 2022. Before him, Hikmat Karki of the UML and Uddhav Thapa of the Congress were each appointed chief minister twice but their governments collapsed as they failed to secure the trust vote.