The ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Prachanda still has a majority (File)
Kathmandu:
Nepal’s Deputy Prime Minister and senior Madhesi leader Upendra Yadav resigned on Monday and his party withdrew from the government, in a setback for the coalition government led by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda.
According to sources close to the Madhesi leader, Upendra Yadav, also the Minister of Health and Population, tendered his resignation to the Prime Minister ‘Prachand’ on Monday morning. Along with Upendra Yadav, Minister of State for Forests and Environment Dipak Karki of the same party also resigned.
The resignation of Upendra Yadav, president of Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal (JSP-Nepal), comes a week after his party split into two groups and senior leader Ashok Rai formed a novel party called Janata Samajwadi Party. The novel party was recognized by the Electoral Commission.
“This morning I submitted my resignation to Prime Minister Dahal. Given the current political situation, I believe that further cooperation with the government is unacceptable,” Upendra Yadav said.
In total, JSP-Nepal had 12 legislators in the House of Representatives (HoR). Currently, the party’s strength in the HoR has been reduced to five as Rai, six other lawmakers and 30 central committee members have joined the novel party.
The ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Prachanda still holds a majority with 77 seats of the CPN-UML, 32 seats of the Maoist Center, 21 seats of the Rastriya Swatantra Party, 7 seats of the newly formed Janata Samajbadi Party and 10 seats of the CPN-Unified Socialist (CPN-US). To obtain a majority, the coalition needs at least 138 seats in the 275-seat House of Representatives.
“The party’s withdrawal from the government will have no direct impact on the Prachanda-led coalition government,” said Sunil Manandhar, former environment minister and central committee member of the ruling CPN-Maoist Center. However, he added that this could have some repercussions on the government’s stability in the long run.
There are reports that the Nepal Opposition Congress is trying to mobilize JSP-Nepal and CPN-US led by former Prime Minister Madhav of Nepal to overthrow the Prachanda-led government. The Nepali Congress is currently obstructing the work of the House of Representatives by demanding the resignation of Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Ravi Lamichhene, who is also the president of the Rastriya Swotantra Party, in connection with the misappropriation of cooperative funds case.
If CPN-US also withdraws support from the government, the Prachanda-led government may need to prove its majority in the House of Representatives, political observers note.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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