Kathmandu : The Gandaki state government has been trapped since the Rastriya Janamorcha announced its separation from the five-party alliance. Janamorcha Chairman Chitra Bahadur KC has announced in a press release that he will leave the alliance as soon as the MCC is passed by the parliament.
In the 60-member Gandaki state assembly, Chief Minister Krishna Chandra Pokhrel Nepali has the support of 31 MPs from the coalition party. He has the support of a total of 31 MPs, including 15 from the Congress, 11 from the Maoist Center (excluding the Speaker) and two from the Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP).
Independent MP Rajiv Gurung (Deepak Manange) is a minister in the state government. Krishna Thapa, who was one of the three MPs from the Janamorcha, has been suspended and two MPs are currently in the state assembly.
As per the decision of the Center, the Gandaki state government will be in the minority if two Jana Morcha MPs leave the state government. With the exit of the Jana Morcha, there are 29 MPs including 15 from the Congress, 11 from the Maoists, 2 from the JSP and one independent.
In such a situation, there is talk that the Gandaki state government will be in the minority and the government will be changed again. Piyari Thapa, leader of the Rastriya Janamorcha Gandaki Pradesh Parliamentary Party, said that there was no immediate decision on whether to retain or withdraw support to the state government. He said that they are ready to take action as per the decision of the center.
However, with the Congress-led Krishnachandra Pokhrel-led state government in the minority, the chances of another government in Gandaki seem slim. The main opposition party CPN-UML has 27 MPs in Gandaki. When the Jana Morcha is in the Opposition, the number of Opposition MPs is 29. If the UML fails to take over the Jana Morcha, there is no possibility of forming another government.
However, in case the Jana Morcha withdraws its support, the government will automatically fall into the minority vote.
However, the CPN (UML) seems to be active in the exercise of making Prithvi Subba Gurung the new Chief Minister even though the government is in the minority. The Gurung-led government collapsed after the House of Representatives was dissolved twice. The state government was formed under the leadership of Krishnachandra Nepali (Pokhrel).
Leaders of the Jana Morcha say that the state government should not be afraid of collapsing at a time when the country is heading towards disaster and the government has decided to withdraw from the alliance as it has passed the MCC in a conspiratorial manner.
The Jana Morcha has stated that it cannot stay with the alliance for fear of collapse of the state government and cannot cooperate with those who are ruthlessly attacking the national integrity and sovereignty of the country.
