Nepali Congress provincial assembly leader Dilli Bahadur Chaudhary has been appointed the chief minister of Lumbini province on Thursday.

Provincial head Amik Sherchan appointed Chaudhary to the post after the latter presented his claim to lead a majority government as per Article 168(2) of the Constitution.

The new chief minister is supported by 53 provincial assembly members of the Nepali Congress, the CPN (Maoist Centre), the Nagarik Unmukti Party, the Janata Samajbadi Party, the Loktantrik Samajbadi Party, the Janamat Party, the Rastriya Janamorcha and the CPN (Unified Socialist) and one independent member.

He needs to secure a vote of confidence from the provincial assembly within 30 days.

Chaudhary was elected to the provincial assembly from Dang-3(a) in the last year’s polls.

Congress and the Maoist Centre have agreed to lead the provincial government by turns. As per the agreement, Chaudhary will lead the government first and Maoist Centre leader Jokha Bahadur Mahara will succeed him later.

Provincial head Amik Sherchan on Tuesday had called on parties to stake a claim for a new government after outgoing Chief Minister Leela Giri lost his position as he failed the trust vote.