Lumbini Province Assembly Size Shrinks Due to Federal Elections and Party Unification

The size of the Lumbini Provincial Assembly has decreased due to the House of Representatives elections. The reduction in the number of provincial assembly members is due to members resigning from their provincial assembly seats to contest in the House of Representatives elections and due to party unification processes.

The 87-member Provincial Assembly has now shrunk to 83 members. The number decreased after Kanhaiya Baniya of Rupandehi, Dhan Bahadur Maski of Dang, Dharmabhadur Chaudhary of Bardiya, and Krishna KC 'Namuna' of Banke resigned from their Provincial Assembly membership.

The unification among parties has also brought changes to the equation in the Provincial Assembly. Following the unification between the then CPN (Maoist Centre) and the CPN (Unified Socialist), Bhagwati Adhikari has become the whip of the parliamentary party of the newly formed Communist Party of Nepal (CPN).

Similarly, three lawmakers from the Nagarik Unmukti Party have been integrated into the CPN through legal procedures.

The number of seats for the CPN increased in the Provincial Assembly after the letter regarding unification arrived from the Election Commission. The CPN now has 13 seats in the Lumbini Provincial Assembly. Meanwhile, Dharmabhadur Chaudhary, elected from the Nagarik Unmukti Party, left the Provincial Assembly and joined the Ujyalo Nepal Party.

The seat count for the Janata Samajbadi Party Nepal (LSP Nepal) has also decreased. LSP Nepal, which previously held 3 seats, is now limited to 2 seats. Recently, LSP Nepal and JSP Nepal unified at the central level. Accordingly, the lawmakers of LSP Nepal will now be merged into JSP Nepal. The number of LSP Nepal decreased after Kanhaiya Baniya resigned from the Provincial Assembly and was elected to the House of Representatives.

• Chaudhary's Dissatisfaction

Provincial Assembly member Rajkumar Chaudhary of the Nagarik Unmukti Party appears dissatisfied with the party unification. Stating that he was not involved in the central unification, he reacted that he would not immediately join the CPN. He complained that his views were disregarded and stated that he would continue to serve the public independently for now.

On the other hand, another lawmaker integrated into the CPN, Narmaya Dhakal, stated that there was no alternative but to accept the unification based on the formal letter received from the center.

• Four Departures

Four individuals who resigned from the Lumbini Provincial Assembly to contest in the House of Representatives elections have left the Provincial Assembly. Out of the four who left from different parties, one was elected as a member of the House of Representatives.

Kanhaiya Baniya, elected to the Provincial Assembly from LSP Nepal, resigned from his Provincial Assembly membership to contest for the House of Representatives seat. He left LSP Nepal and became a candidate for the Rastriya Swatantra Party. Baniya was elected as a member of the House of Representatives.

Krishna KC, elected from the then CPN (Maoist Centre) in Banke Constituency No. 2, was dissatisfied with the party unification. She contested for the House of Representatives seat from the Pragatisheel Loktantrik Party. However, she was not successful in getting elected. Her seat became vacant due to her resignation from the Provincial Assembly.

Dharmabhadur Chaudhary, the leader of the Nagarik Unmukti Party's Lumbini Province parliamentary party, contested as a candidate for the House of Representatives seat from Bardiya-2 on behalf of the Ujyalo Nepal Party. He was also defeated.

Dhan Bahadur Maski of the CPN had also served as the Minister of Economic Affairs in the province. He resigned from his Provincial Assembly membership to contest for the House of Representatives seat. He was also defeated in the House of Representatives elections. He contested from Dang-3.

Bhagwati Adhikari from Rupandehi was elected to the Provincial Assembly on behalf of the then CPN (Unified Socialist). Following the party unification, she is now the whip of the Lumbini Provincial Assembly parliamentary party of the CPN.

Indrajeet Tharu, the Chief Whip of the Lumbini Provincial Assembly for the CPN, stated that three lawmakers from the then Nagarik Unmukti Party have also been formally integrated.