KATHMANDU, Feb 8: Rajendra Singh Rawal, the Chief Minister of Sudurpaschim Province, is preparing to take the vote of confidence today. He is scheduled to take the vote of confidence in the provincial assembly meeting at 1 pm on Wednesday.

The Nagarik Unmukti Party (NUP), which supported Chief Minister Singh during the formation of the government, has decided not to give a vote of confidence to the Sudurpaschim government until it guarantees the release of the imprisoned Resham Chaudhary and the recently arrested MP Arun Chaudhary. 

Sudurpaschim Provincial Assembly member Lakshman Kishore Chaudhary has said that he cannot support the government because of its action of detaining the innocent Arun Chaudhary instead of fulfilling his demand to release Resham Chaudhary who is in the government's custody.

In such a situation, it is suspected that Chief Minister Rawal may not get a vote of confidence. If NUP withdraws its support, the government will automatically fall into a minority. According to the constitution, Chief Minister Rawal, who was appointed on January 11th, has to take the vote of confidence by February 9. UML has tried to lure NUP from the centre but its effort has failed so far. 

Due to the lack of support for NUP, the Council of Ministers has not been expanded so far. Khagraj Bhatt of the Maoist Center and Santosh Kumari Sharma Thapa of the UML, who were appointed as ministers on Jan 02, have not been given the responsibility. Rawal was appointed as the Chief Minister after garnering the support of 29 members in Sudurpaschim , which has a 53-member provincial assembly, 11 from CPN-Maoist Center, 10 from CPN-UML, 7 from NUP and 1 from RPP.

 
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