Madhesh sees new UML-led coalition, oath at hotel (video)
Saroj Kumar Yadav, the parliamentary party leader of UML in the province, has taken charge as Chief Minister, appointing three ministers to his cabinet shortly after assuming office.
KATHMANDU: A new coalition government has been formed in Madhesh Province under the leadership of the CPN-UML.
Saroj Kumar Yadav, the parliamentary party leader of UML in the province, has taken charge as Chief Minister, appointing three ministers to his cabinet shortly after assuming office.
According to the cabinet announcement, Laxman Das has been inducted as a minister representing UML.
Similarly, Bimala Ansari has joined the provincial cabinet from the Federal Socialist Party, which holds one seat in the Madhesh Provincial Assembly.
Another one-seat party, Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), is represented in the cabinet by Kanchan Bichha. This marks RPP’s first participation in the Madhesh provincial government.
Though small in size, the new cabinet symbolizes the alliance among UML, the Federal Socialist Party and RPP. Chief Minister Yadav said that development and good governance would be the central focus of his administration.
However, the change of government has sparked sharp political debate and controversy due to the manner in which the Chief Minister’s oath was administered. Yadav was sworn in during the early morning hours at a hotel in Sindhuli, rather than at the usual official venue in Janakpur. A video of the hotel oath-taking quickly surfaced online, igniting widespread discussions and criticism.
The sequence began after former Chief Minister Jitendra Prasad Sonal of the Loktantrik Samajwadi Party tendered his resignation. Acting under Article 168 (3) of the Constitution, Province Chief Sumitra Subedi Bhandari appointed Yadav as the leader of the largest party in the assembly. Yet the appointments unfolded under unusual circumstances.
Before administering the oath, Province Chief Bhandari left Janakpur for Kathmandu citing health reasons. Sonal himself had bid her farewell, wishing her recovery. But shortly afterward, documents confirming Yadav’s appointment and the video of his hotel oath ceremony became public.
Sonal has strongly objected to the move, calling it a betrayal of the people of Madhesh. Taking to social media, he alleged that the province’s dignity was compromised. “The identity of Madhesh Province has been trampled,” he wrote, accusing Province Chief Bhandari of facilitating a backdoor political move at the border between Sindhuli and Mahottari.
Chief Minister Yadav defended the decision to hold the oath ceremony away from Janakpur, citing ongoing protests in the provincial capital. “The situation in Janakpur was tense. Demonstrations were taking place, and it was not manageable to conduct the ceremony there,” he said.
The dramatic overnight developments have triggered heated debate in Madhes Province, raising questions over procedural transparency, political alignment and the future stability of the newly formed coalition.
