KATHMANDU: A meeting of the ruling coalition held at the Prime Minister’s official residence in Baluwatar has decided to pick Uddhav Thapa, a leader from the Nepali Congress (NC), as the coalition’s candidate for the position of Chief Minister in Koshi Province.

A meeting called by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda” concluded with the decision to form the Koshi government under the leadership of the NC.

Rajendra Pandey, Vice Chairman of the Unified Socialist Party, stated that the top leaders of the coalition parties reached a consensus on selecting Thapa, the parliamentary party leader of the NC in the province on Monday.

NC is the largest party in the Koshi province.

Earlier, NC and CPN-Maoist Center both had been claiming for the post of Koshi Chief Minister.

He said that the meeting also decided on the number of members to be included in the cabinet in various provinces.

Pandey revealed that the coalition leaders decided to make a conducive environment to include Janamat Party in the incumbent cabinet.

Along with NC and Maoist Center, Upendra Yadav’s Janata Samajbadi Party, Mahantha Thakur’s Loktantrik Samajbadi Party and Madhav Kumar Nepal-led CPN-Unified Socialist Party are also in the coalition.

The coalition leaders also discussed on including Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) to form the new government.