The CPN-UML and the CPN (Maoist Centre) decided to withdraw their support to the provincial government in Madhesh, leaving Chief Minister Saroj Kumar Yadav in minority.

Four Cabinet ministers and two state ministers representing the UML and two ministers of the Maoist Centre resigned on Sunday. The UML’s ministers Saroj Kumar Yadav, Raj Kumar Lekhi, Shatrudhan Singh, Pramod Kumar Jayasawal and state ministers Keshav Raya and Sharada Thapa jointly tendered their resignations to Chief Minister Yadav.

Earlier on Sunday, Maoist Centre ministers Bharat Kumar Sah and Yuvaraj Bhattarai also tendered their resignations from their posts.

The provincial head of the executive needs the support of 54 members in the 107-strong provincial assembly in Madhesh.

On April 16 Chief Minister Yadav of the Janata Samjbadi Party-Nepal (JSP-Nepal) secured 61 votes in his favour. Voting for Yadav were provincial assembly members of the JSP-Nepal (19), the UML (25 including the Speaker who cannot vote), the Maoist Centre (9), the CPN (Unified Socialist) (7) and independent lawmakers. The Nepali Congress (22), the Janamat Party (13) and the Loktantrik Samajbadi Party (9) voted against him.

The split of the JSP-Nepal led by Upendra Yadav is expected to lead the Madhesh provincial government into a crisis. Ashok Rai, the federal council chair of the JSP-Nepal, along with six other lawmakers and 30 central committee members, split the party to form the Janata Samajbadi Party last week. The Election Commission on Monday registered the Rai-led new party.

Meanwhile, the UML, Maoist Centre, Janamat Party and Loktantrik Samajbadi Party reached an agreement to form a new government in Madhesh. They agreed to lead the Madhesh government by turns. However, they are yet to reach an agreement on which party will lead the provincial government first. These four parties have the required numerical strength to form the government in Madhesh.

JSP-Nepal has continuously led the Madhesh government since the first provincial election held in 2017. In fact, the Upendra Yadav-led JSP-Nepal is the only party to continuously lead a provincial government for the past seven years.

As the largest party in the provincial assembly, the UML is unwilling to support the leader of the JSP-Nepal, the third-largest party in Janakpur, as chief minister. UML leaders have had bitter relations with Madheshi politicians, mainly since 2015, the year the constitution was promulgated. As UML chair KP Sharma Oli was projected as anti-federalist and anti-Madhesh in the province, UML leaders were even chased away from some districts and barred from holding mass gatherings there.

However, in the 2022 elections, the UML emerged as the largest party in the same province.