The Nagarik Unmukti Party has decided to withdraw its support from the Kamal Bahadur Shah-led government in Sudurpaschim Province following the dismissal of the party’s minister from the Cabinet.

On Thursday, Chief Minister Shah sacked Rameshwar Chaudhary, the minister for Industry, Tourism, Forests and Environment, representing Nagarik Unmukti.

In response, the party held a parliamentary party meeting on Friday and decided to pull out of the coalition. The decision was made by a majority of the lawmakers present, said the party’s parliamentary leader Ghanshyam Chaudhary.

Among the party’s seven provincial lawmakers, four—Ghanshyam Chaudhary, Tika Thapa, Indira Giri and Rameshwar Chaudhary—attended the meeting. Kailash Chaudhary, Khusiram Dagoura Tharu and Laxman Kishor Chaudhary were absent. Kailash Chaudhary said the party should issue a clear formal decision before withdrawing support and added that federal minister Arun Chaudhary should resign first.

Despite the withdrawal, Chief Minister Shah will not lose his majority in the assembly. In the 53-member Sudurpaschim Provincial Assembly, 27 seats are required for a majority. The Nepali Congress has 18 members and the CPN-UML has 11.

This marks a rare occasion when the party chair Ranjita Shrestha and patron Resham Chaudhary have taken a common stance on a major political move. The two have frequently disagreed in the past, but on this issue, they are aligned in withdrawing support from the government.

Minister Chaudhary had earlier refused to resign. He had challenged the chief minister to dismiss him instead. The party, in turn, had decided not to press for his resignation.

He had courted controversy for failing to maintain financial discipline during budget formulation and for making unilateral appointments—such as the executive director of the Khaptad Tourism Development and Management Committee—without informing the chief minister.