The Karnali provincial government has secured backing of more than two-thirds assembly members. Chief Minister Mahendra Bahadur Shahi got 32 votes in his favour in a motion of confidence tabled in the 40-member provincial assembly. Five Nepali Congress members and one Rastriya Prajatantra Party member voted against the government.

CM Shahi, who is also the Parliamentary Party leader of the CPN (Maoist Centre), had urged all the provincial assembly members to vote for his government promising equal treatment for all the parties. He had underscored the need for political consensus to implement the federal system and to speed up development in the province.

Addressing the assembly, CPN-UML PP leader Yamlal Kandel urged the NC to play a constructive role. “We should work together to materialise our dream of developing the Karnali province,” said Kandel. NC PP leader Jiban Bahadur Shahi expressed his fears that the government could become autocratic if the whole assembly supported it. He assured that the NC would play a constructive role as the opposition.