Indira Giri, a member of the Sudurpaschim provincial assembly representing the Nagarik Unmukti Party, has been dismissed from her position.

Giri, who serves as the State Minister for Land Management, Agriculture, and Cooperatives in the Kamal Bahadur Shah-led government, has been relieved of her position by Speaker Bhim Bahadur Bhandari.

Ranjita Shrestha, the chairperson of the Unmukti Party, had formally written to the Speaker on April 2 requesting to remove Giri from her position. Giri, who was elected to the provincial assembly under the proportional representation quota, has been relieved of her duties as per the request of the party.

A notice mentioning that Speaker Bhandari has relieved the lawmaker of her position as per Section 35 of the Political Parties Act was published by the Provincial Assembly Secretariat on Monday.

Political uncertainty continues in Sudurpaschim due to a longstanding dispute between the Nagarik Unmukti Party chair Shrestha and her husband Reshamlal Chaudhary on whether to support the provincial government led by Shah.

Of the seven Nagarik Unmukti provincial members, five including Giri are close to party leader Reshamlal Chaudhary, who is in favour of supporting the incumbent Congress-led government in the province. The two members considered close to party chair Shrestha are against Shah’s government. The Nagarik Unmukti Party, established in 2022, has made a mark in politics following the elections held later that year.

In the 53-member Sudurpaschim assembly, the Congress has 19 members, the Maoist Centre has 10, the UML 9, the Nagarik Unmukti Party 7, the Unified Socialist has three, and the RPP has one, besides an independent lawmaker. Any party claiming the government’s leadership must secure the support of at least 27 assembly members.