saptari

– Three ministers of the Province 1 government resigned on Sunday.

Social Development Minister Jiwan Ghimire, Social Development State Minister Jasmaya Gajmer and Industry, Tourism, Forest and Environment State Minister Bijay Bishwas have tendered their resignation, according to Tilak Bahadur Basnet, personal aide to Ghimire.

All three ministers are from the Pushpa Kamal Dahal-Madhav Kumar Nepal faction of the Nepal Communist Party.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s move of dissolving the House has resulted in a split in the Nepal Communist Party, and the impacts are being seen in provinces.

On Saturday, Province 1 Chief Minister Sherdhan Rai, a close ally of Oli, sacked minister Indra Aangbo, who belongs to the Dahal-Nepal faction.

Meanwhile, leaders from the Dahal-Nepal faction are preparing to register a no-confidence motion against Chief Minister Rai.

In the 93-member Provincial Assembly, Rai has only 20 of the 67 seats that went to the Nepal Communist Party—51 to former UML and 16 to the former Maoist party.

The Dahal-Nepal faction currently controls 47 seats.

Article 188 (4) of the constitution says one-fourth of the total number of the assembly members may table in writing a motion of no-confidence against the chief minister.

On Friday, as many as 45 members of the Bagmati provincial assembly registered a no-confidence motion against Chief Minister Dormani Poudel.

In the 110-member Provincial Assembly in Bagmati, the Nepal Communist Party has 80 seats. But after the split, 46 assembly members are with the Dahal-Nepal faction while 36 are with the Oli faction.