Sudurpaschim Chief Minister Kamal Bahadur Shah secured a vote of confidence in the Sudurpaschim Provincial Assembly on Sunday.

Shah, who is from Nepali Congress, passed the floor test by a clear majority, receiving 41 votes in the 53-strong provincial assembly. Apart from the Nepali Congress, lawmakers from the CPN (Maoist Centre), Nagarik Unmukti Party, CPN (Unified Socialist), and one independent lawmaker cast their votes in favour of the motion seeking the trust vote.

Meanwhile, 11 lawmakers, including 10 from the CPN-UML and one Rastriya Prajatantra Party member, voted against the motion.

Nepali Congress provincial assembly leader Shah was appointed Sudurpaschim chief minister on February 9. Province chief Dev Raj Joshi had appointed Shah to the post as per Article 168(3) of the constitution after CPN-UML’s Rajendra Singh Rawal lost the position of chief minister failing to secure a majority in his favour.

At least 27 votes were needed to secure a majority. In the 53-member assembly, Nepali Congress has 19 members, the Maoist Centre 10, the Nagarik Unmukti Party seven and the Unified Socialist three members. One independent member has also supported the government.

Congress assembly member Megh Raj Khadka said Maoist Centre provincial assembly leader Khag Raj Bhatta, while meeting the chief minister on Saturday evening, stressed forging a power-sharing deal before the floor test.

Similarly, Congress members said the Nagarik Unmukti Party has demanded the share of two ministers, two state ministers and the chairmanship of two provincial assembly committees for voting in favour of the trust motion.