Bagmati CM Bahadur Lama to resign after Deuba’s directive

Bagmati Province Chief Minister Bahadur Singh Lama is set to resign after Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba asked him to step down.

Tirtha Lama, a provincial lawmaker close to Chief Minister Lama, confirmed this. He said, “The party president gave the instruction to resign yesterday. Lama will resign by tomorrow.”

Lama has completed one year as Chief Minister. A no-confidence motion was recently passed against him within the party’s parliamentary group, and a new leader was elected. Indra Baniya has already been chosen as the new parliamentary leader of the Nepali Congress and is expected to become the next Chief Minister.

Some say Lama had earlier agreed to resign within a year and make way for Baniya. But since he didn’t step down, the dissatisfied members brought a no-confidence motion.

Lama had argued that under Article 168(2) of the Constitution, a Chief Minister doesn’t have to be the parliamentary party leader, so he didn’t want to resign.

He has been leading a joint government of Nepali Congress and UML in Bagmati Province. On Thursday, top leaders from both parties met at Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s residence in Baluwatar to discuss the situation.