Kathmandu, April 18: Nepali Congress president Sher Bahadur Deuba and Ekikrit Samajwadi Party (ESP) chairman Madhav Nepal held a secret meeting at the house of a political leader in Galfutar on Wednesday evening.
Nepal had left for Galfutar after proposing Deergha Sodari’s name to the post of chief minister of the Soodur Paschim Province in the party’s secretariat meeting, reports state.
Meanwhile, UML has refused Sodari’s name, and thus far, Sodari has been unable to give his candidacy on Wednesday.
Earlier, the alliance government had decided to provide the chief minister’s post to the Nagarik Unmukti Party (NUP). After Madhav Nepal warned to quit the government, Prime Minister Pushpakamal Dahal held a meeting with Jhalanath Khanal and agreed to give the post to the ESP.
Reports state that during the meeting between Deuba and Nepal, the two leaders discussed electing an ESP candidate to the post of Soodur Paschim Province.
If ESP quits the federal government, the provincial governments in Madhesh, Bagmati, Lumbini and Soodur Paschim will go to the opposition alliance led by NC.
Nevertheless, even if ESP quits the federal government, the central alliance will still bag a comfortable majority, however, if the Janata Samajwadi Party also quits the central alliance government, the federal government may face problems.
Currently, the federal government holds the support of 32 MPs from the Maoist Center, 78 MPs from the UML, 21 MPs from the Rastriya Swatantra Party, 12 MPs from the Janata Samajwadi Party, and 10 MPs from ESP. In total, 157 MPs support the government.
If ESP quits the government, there will remain 147 MPs with the government. If NUP will also quit the government, there will be 143 MPs with the government.
People’s News Monitoring Service.
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