HETAUDA: Shyam Bahadur Khadka, Minister for Drinking Water, Energy, and Irrigation of Bagmati Province, has tendered his resignation.

On Tuesday, he submitted his resignation letter to Chief Minister Bahadur Singh Lama.

Earlier, on July 25, four ministers from Nepali Congress who were part of the provincial government also resigned.

On the same day, Chief Minister Lama dismissed all four ministers who had resigned.

The Bagmati Province government has 14 ministries, with eight ministers including Chief Minister Lama from the Nepali Congress party.

Following Khadka’s resignation, Hariprava Khadgi now holds the Ministry of Social Development and Kundanraj Kafle the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Planning.

Meanwhile, a no-confidence motion has been submitted to the Parliamentary Party Office against Chief Minister Lama, signed by 21 provincial assembly members.

This number represents a majority of the total provincial assembly members from Nepali Congress, demanding the removal of Lama as the party leader and the appointment of Baniya as the new leader of the provincial assembly’s parliamentary party.

The Bagmati Provincial Assembly has 110 members, of which 37 belong to the Nepali Congress.

During the filing of the no-confidence motion, 18 out of the 21 signatories were present in the assembly, while three signed but were absent from the party office.

The no-confidence motion against the party leader has put Chief Minister Lama’s position in jeopardy. However, among the 21 signatories, two members — Meena Parajuli and Maya Shrestha — have publicly expressed their support for Chief Minister Lama.

Following the registration of the no-confidence motion, Lama must prove that he still commands majority support as per the party’s bylaws.

According to Article 18 of the Provincial Parliamentary Party statute, a meeting must be called within 15 days after a no-confidence motion is registered.