KATHMANDU : Karnali’s Chief Minister Mahendra Bahadur Shahi has appointed Kurma Raj Shahi, a provincial assembly member of the ruling Nepal Commubist Party from Kalikot, as the party’s new Whip.
He was appointed to the post that had fallen vacant after Sita Nepali, who was serving as the Whip, became the Chief Whip. Nepali succeeded Gulab Jung Shah, who was sacked by the Chief Minister from the post of party Chief Whip on Monday after an attempt to vote him out began by registering a no-confidence motion in the provincial assembly. Shah, who has been dismissed from his post, was said to be in favor of ousting the current Chief Minister.
According to a party source, Shahi was appointed as the Whip following an agreement between Chief Minister Shahi and a faction close to senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal to avert the process of the no-confidence motion against him. Earlier on Monday, 18 provincial assembly members of the ruling NCP, including three from erstwhile CPN (Maoist-Center), had registered a no-confidence motion against Chief Minister Shahi.
The intra-party dispute in the province has sent ripple effects in the center, where NCP co-chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ met co-chair and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to urge him to intervene in the process of toppling the provincial government by his own party members.
Following the meeting, Oli mobilized his trusted lieutenant Subhash Nemwang to resolve the intra party dispute in Karnali. However, factions close to senior leader Nepal and Chief Minister Shahi have held consultations to end the process of no-confidence motion and resolve political disputes, according to a party source.
Factions close to senior leader Nepal and Chief Minister Shahi also reportedly agreed on reshuffling the provincial cabinet. According to the source, Chief Minister Shahi is ready to appoint the Whip from senior leader Nepal’s faction and provide them with three ministerial posts in his cabinet.
The source also said that the Nepal-led faction has submitted the name of Ammar Bahadur Thapa, Karbir Shahi and Chandra Shahi for the appointment as ministers in the Shahi-led provincial cabinet.
