KATHMANDU: The CPN-UML Bagmati Province parliamentary party has decided to nominate Province Assembly member Kiran Thapa as its candidate for chief minister.
A parliamentary party meeting held on Tuesday afternoon selected Thapa, an assembly member from Bhaktapur, for the top provincial post.
The meeting, however, decided to retain Jagannath Thapaliya as the parliamentary party leader.
UML Chair KP Sharma Oli and party secretary Mahesh Basnet had reportedly backed Thapa for chief minister, while seeking to prevent Thapaliya from taking the position. Accordingly, 14 provincial assembly members had signed in support of Thapa.
The UML has 25 members in the Bagmati Provincial Assembly. Even with the support of the CPN (Maoist Centre), the party does not have enough numbers to form a majority government.
Thapa will therefore need the support of at least six lawmakers from the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) to secure the chief minister’s post.
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