21 state MPs of the Congress have signed a no-confidence motion against Chief Minister Lama.
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Rajan KC, representative of the Center, has arrived in Hetounda on Sunday to resolve the dispute in the Bagmati Province Parliamentary Party of the Congress. He said that the dispute resolution process will be taken forward from the meeting of the Provincial Parliamentary Party which will be held at 1 pm on Monday.
Bagmati Chief Minister and Congress Parliamentary Party leader Bahadur Singh Lama has now fallen into the minority after a motion of no confidence was filed in the parliamentary party by his own MP. Out of 37 state MPs of the Congress, 21 have signed in favor of the no-confidence motion. The no-confidence motion was registered under the leadership of Congress state president and state MP Indra Bahadur Banian. Both Chief Minister Lama and Baniyan are close leaders of Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba.
According to Central Representative KC, the current problem will be solved through the parliamentary process in two stages. In the first stage, votes for and against the motion of no confidence will be declared. Only after the proposal is passed, the process of selecting the party leader will be carried forward, he said. He said that in the second phase, the process will be finalized by secret voting among those who claim to be the leader of the party. As the leader of the parliamentary party becomes the chief minister, KC explained that whoever becomes the leader of the party will lead the government. He said that the date of the election process necessary to select the leader will be determined from the party meeting.
Congress Parliamentary Party Secretary Krishna Kumar Tamang wrote a letter to the Congress Bagmati Province Committee and the Central Committee after the motion of no confidence was registered against Chief Minister Lama. According to his correspondence, the state and center have sent KC as an observer to facilitate. Although Tamang was previously on Lama's side, now he is close to Banyan. Tamang claimed that the correspondence was done according to the authority given to him by the parliamentary party.
Chief Minister Lama has dismissed four ministers who signed against him. MPs close to him have said that he has appointed new ministers in four vacant ministries and decided a strategy to deal with the motion of no confidence. He is currently in Kathmandu to take the central leadership into confidence, who is engaged in the strategy of deceiving MPs who are open to the Baniyan side.
According to Article 169 (2) (b) of the Constitution, Lama has dismissed Bagmati Government's Internal Affairs and Law Minister Surajchandra Lamichhane, Youth and Sports Minister Meenkrishna Maharjan, Culture and Tourism Minister Bimal Thakuri and Cooperative and Poverty Alleviation Minister Madukumar Shrestha who signed against him. Although they resigned on Friday afternoon, they were fired without accepting it. At that time, Lama got 21 votes when he defeated Baniyan as the leader of the parliamentary party. At that time, Baniyan was limited to 16 votes.
