CPN-UML Pursues Bagmati Province Government Change, Internal Leadership Dispute Emerges

Hetauda. CPN (UML) is striving for a change in the Bagmati Province government.

UML, which is in the race for power sharing, is claiming leadership of the government based on pre-determined conditions and agreements. UML is active in a strategy to lead the government from next July.

Meanwhile, the issue of leadership of the parliamentary party within UML is becoming increasingly controversial. The weakening role of the parliamentary party and the conditions set by the party leader during budget formulation have further exacerbated this dispute.

Some UML lawmakers themselves have been stating that even if UML gets the leadership of Bagmati in the distribution of provincial governments during power sharing, it is not certain that the current parliamentary party leader Jagannath Thapaliya will lead the government. According to them, the party leader has not been able to play a leading role recently and has supported the government against the sentiments of the lawmakers in the budget. Lawmakers say this issue has already been discussed with the top leadership of UML.

Indeed, since the discussion about changing the government began, the leader of the UML parliamentary party, Thapaliya, has been in Kathmandu. He has been active in Kathmandu meeting with top leaders and lobbying to become the Chief Minister. However, concrete discussions among the ruling parties regarding the change in the Bagmati government have not yet taken place.

Leader Thapaliya, who is in the race to become Chief Minister, is currently claimed to be close to UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli. It is rumored that he changed his faction to become Chief Minister, having previously been in the group of former President Bidya Devi Bhandari. Until the UML general convention, he was in former President Bhandari's camp.

Under the protection of Bhandari's confidant and former Chief Minister Dormani Poudel, he became the parliamentary party leader unanimously. While Poudel was Chief Minister, leader Thapaliya was the chief political advisor, and after the UML general convention, he openly joined Chairman Oli's faction. In the current situation, the relationship between leader Thapaliya and Poudel is not cordial, while leader Thapaliya has the support of lawmakers Ekalaal Shrestha and former lawmaker Prakash Shrestha, among others.

On the other hand, Keshav Pokharel and Dr. Dineshchandra Devkota, among others, have been challenging Thapaliya for the leadership of the parliamentary party. Pokharel has been a provincial lawmaker for the second time and has served as a minister in the Bagmati government for 4 months. Dr. Devkota is the current Minister of Physical Infrastructure Development and is also a former Vice-Chairman of the National Planning Commission. UML Secretary Mahesh Basnet's confidant and current Health Minister Kiran Thapa Magar has also emerged as a contender for leadership.

Meanwhile, from next July 1, there will be 8 ministries in the Bagmati Province. While Congress is internally preparing to reduce the 14 ministries to 11, UML has stated that discussions about the cabinet will only take place after the change of government. Although Congress has made internal preparations to recall its ministers when reducing the number of ministries, UML has not even initiated discussions on the matter.

Amidst the pressure to implement the decision to reduce the number of ministries, the lack of concrete decisions from UML has increased the possibility of some ministers becoming jobless.

According to a UML lawmaker, there is dissatisfaction within the party regarding the reshuffling of the provincial government's cabinet and the working style of the parliamentary party leadership. Due to the pressure to reduce the number of ministries in the provincial government, preparations are underway to recall some ministers, and there is a practical pressure to keep only 8 ministries in the province from July 1, he informed.

He stated that dissatisfaction is growing among lawmakers regarding the leadership of the UML Bagmati Province Parliamentary Party. He said that there is dissatisfaction within the party, stating that the party leader has not been able to perform according to the stance and role they should have taken. He claimed that even if UML gets the leadership in the event of a change of government, the current parliamentary party leader's chances of becoming Chief Minister are slim.

“The decision to keep only 8 ministries from July 1 has to be implemented. If there are no ministries, there is no point in keeping ministers. Therefore, discussions are underway to recall UML ministers and move forward with a new process. However, formal discussions on this are yet to take place in the parliamentary party, and we are awaiting instructions from the center,” he said. “There is dissatisfaction among colleagues that the party leader has not played an effective role. That is natural too. In the current situation, JN sir (JN)'s possibility is not visible, and the lawmakers are not openly supporting him. The party members are expressing doubts about the role he played during the budget period.”

According to the lawmaker in Kathmandu, all matters related to government change and power समीकरण are in the hands of the party's central top leadership. He said that although discussions are ongoing between the top leaders of both parties, no concrete conclusion has been reached yet.

Cabinet and Leadership to be Decided by the Center: Lawmaker Pathak

UML Central Committee member and Bagmati Province Assembly member Bharti Pathak has stated that the decision of the party's central leadership will be final regarding the reshuffling of the provincial government's cabinet and the leadership of the power transition.

Lawmaker Pathak mentioned that although there is talk of a change in government leadership from July, as per the prior agreement between the Nepali Congress and UML, a formal decision is yet to be made. She also informed that there is pressure to reduce the number of ministries in the province to 8 from July 1.

“As per the agreement with Congress, there is a change of Chief Minister. Discussions are ongoing between the top leadership of both parties, so everything will be finalized from the center,” she said. “When reducing the number of ministries, some former ministers will have to be recalled. It is not yet certain how many will be repeated and who will be new.”