HETAUDA: Nepali Congress leader Indra Bahadur Baniya has been appointed as the sixth Chief Minister of Bagmati Province.

Province Chief Deepak Prasad Devkota administered the appointment today after Baniya secured a majority in the Provincial Assembly with the joint support of the Nepali Congress (NC) and CPN-UML.

Baniya, who leads the NC Bagmati Province parliamentary party, staked his claim for the Chief Minister’s post on Monday following the resignation of Bahadur Singh Lama.

With Lama’s departure, the Province Chief had called for claims under Article 168(2) of the Constitution, setting a deadline for 2 PM today.

Baniya filed his candidacy with the backing of 64 lawmakers—37 from the Nepali Congress and 27 from the CPN-UML—comfortably surpassing the 56-member majority threshold in the 110-member Provincial Assembly.

The new coalition government is being formed under Article 168(2), which allows a Provincial Assembly member to become Chief Minister by securing majority support through an alliance of two or more parties when no single party commands an outright majority.

Province Chief Devkota appointed Baniya after verifying the majority claims.

The swearing-in ceremony has been scheduled for 4 PM today at the Province Chief’s Office.

An NC lawmaker confirmed that Chief Minister Baniya will soon expand his Cabinet, inducting ministers from both coalition partners.

The current Provincial Assembly composition stands as follows: Nepali Congress (37), CPN-UML (27), CPN (Maoist Centre) (21), Rastriya Prajatantra Party (13), CPN (Unified Socialist) (7), Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party (3), and Hamro Nepali Party (2).