KATHMANDU, April 22: The Supreme Court (SC) is hearing a writ petition filed against the appointment of Sudurpaschim Province Chief Minister (CM) Dirgha Sodari today.

Laxman Chaudhary of the Nagarik Unmukti Party (NUP) filed a writ petition at the SC against the appointment of Sodari as the Sudurpaschim CM.

Chaudhary has demanded the dismissal of CPN (Unified Socialist) party’s Sudurpaschim parliamentary party leader Sodari from the post of chief minister, arguing that the latter lacks majority support in the province assembly.

A leader of the NUP’s Resham Chaudhary faction, Laxman claimed majority support from lawmakers and demanded he be appointed as the chief minister.

After the resignation of the former CM Kamal Bahadur Shah, the province chief had urged the parties to submit their claim to the post of CM by May 2.

Two factions from NUP, one backed by Resham Chaudhary and another backed by party chair Ranjita Shrestha, submitted their claims of majority within the stipulated time.

In their claim, Resham faction leader Laxman said that he had the support of the majority of lawmakers, including those from NC, Unified Socialist, and Nagarik Unmukti Party itself, whereas Ranjita-backed Kailash Chaudhary claimed the support of CPN (Maoist Center), CPN-UML, and NUP.

However, Unified Socialist leader Dirgha Sodari clarified that his party had withdrawn support given to Laxman and claimed to have the majority with him.

The Province Chief, after consultation with legal experts, extended the deadline for claim submission by two days.

Later, Sodari was appointed as the CM on April 18.

 
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