Madhesh Province Head Sumitra Subedi Bhandari on Friday appointed Janamat Party lawmaker Satish Kumar Singh the chief minister of the province.

Tikaram Uprety, personal secretary to the province head, said Singh was appointed to the position as per Article 168(2) of the Constitution.

Singh is the third chief minister of the province. Upendra Yadav’s party was ousted from power six and a half years after the first provincial assembly elections after Saroj Kumar Yadav lost the trust vote on Wednesday. Previously, Yadav’s aide Lal Babu Raut served a full five-year term as chief minister of the province.

Singh of CK Raut-led Janamat Party staked his claim with the backing of 55 assembly members. Singh has shown support of 24 members from the CPN-UML, 13 from the Janamat Party, nine from the CPN (Maoist Centre), seven from the CPN (Unified Socialist) and one each from Nagarik Unmukti Party and Nepal Sanghiya Samajbadi Party.

In the 107-strong Madhesh assembly, the support of 54 assembly members is required for a simple majority.

Province Head Bhandari will administer the oath of office and secrecy to the newly appointed chief minister at 12:21pm.

According to the Maoist Centre provincial assembly leader Bharat Prasad Sah, ten ministers will also be sworn in along with Singh.

Six partners in the alliance forged an agreement on the ministerial allocations late Thursday night.

On Wednesday evening, Province Head Sumitra Bhandari had invited parties for government formation in accordance with Article 168(2) of the Constitution. She gave the parties a deadline until 10 am today to submit their claims. The provision states that in cases where no party has a clear majority in the assembly under clause(1), the Province Head shall appoint as the chief minister a member of the assembly who can command a majority with the support of two or more parties representing the provincial assembly.

The new chief minister must secure the confidence of the provincial assembly within 30 days of appointment.

The call for the new government formation was made after outgoing Chief Minister Saroj Kumar Yadav of Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal lost his position after failing to secure a vote of confidence during a floor test in the provincial assembly. He was appointed to the post 17 months ago.

A meeting of the provincial assembly rejected the motion tabled by the chief minister seeking the assembly’s trust. Of the 103 members present in the meeting, 50 members of the assembly voted in favour of his motion while 53 voted against.