Lumbini Chief Minister Jokh Bahadur Mahara secured a vote of confidence in the provincial assembly on Friday.

A motion tabled by the chief minister seeking the trust vote secured 48 votes. A total of 28 votes were cast against. Provincial assembly members of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party and Loktantrik Samajbadi Party were absent from today’s meeting.

Support from 44 members is necessary to command a majority in the 87-member assembly.

Mahara, provincial assembly leader of the CPN (Maoist Centre), was appointed chief minister on April 9 after Dilli Bahadur Chaudhary of the Nepali Congress resigned following his attempts to prove a majority in the provincial assembly failed.

The Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s move to change his coalition partners at the federal level last month triggered changes in provincial governments as well.