Sanghiya Samajbadi Forum-Nepal, the largest party in Province 2, and the Nepali Congress have picked the leaders of their provincial parliamentary parties (PP).

The NC meeting held in Janakpur on Monday unanimously elected Ram Saroj Yadav as the PP leader. He is also the Dhanusha district president of the party. The SSF-N on Sunday selected party Vice-chairman Lalbabu Raut as the PP leader. He

represents the Parsa 2 (A) constituency in the provincial assembly.

Raut is almost sure to be elected the chief minister since the SSF-N and the Rastriya Janata Party Nepal have agreed in principle to share the posts of CM and speaker, respectively.

RJP-N presidium member Rajendra Mahato said the two Madhes-based parties would reach a package deal on power-sharing. “We have not thought of any alternative as the people have mandated Madhesi parties to form the provincial government,” he added. SSF-N Chairman Upendra Yadav said Raut would be the chief minister. The party would hold dialogue with the RJP-N to form the provincial government while inviting other parties to join the cabinet.

Yadav also lashed out at major parties UML, Maoist Centre and the Nepali Congress for “inciting people of Birgunj” to claim the provincial capital after Janakpur was named the temporary headquarters. The UML, the RJP-N and the Maoist Centre have also initiated discussion for selecting PP leaders. Shatrudhan Mahato and Satyanarayan Mandal are two major hopefuls for the UML PP leader post.