Apr 07, Kathmandu- Congress Parliamentary Party Leader and Chief Minister Surendraraj Pandey has said that the claim submitted to appoint Khagaraj Adhikari as Chief Minister in Gandaki Province is unconstitutional.

22 members of CPN-UML, 8 including the speaker of Maoist and 31 members including Rajiv Gurung (Deepak Manange) of Unified Socialist Party have submitted their claims to state chief Dilliraj Bhatta to appoint Khagaraj as the chief minister. After Chief Minister Pandey resigned on Chaitra 21 after failing to receive a vote of confidence in Parliament, Provincial Chief Bhatta called for forming a majority government by 3:00 on Chaitra 27. The claim was submitted 2 days before the end of the time given by the state chief to appoint Khagraj as the chief minister on behalf of the party in a joint meeting of UML and Maoists on Saturday.

After Speaker Krishna Dhital also submitted a claim to appoint Khagraj as the Chief Minister as a member of the Maoist Parliamentary Party, the Congress called it unconstitutional and fraudulent. Earlier, Chief Minister Pandey has demanded that all 31 people should be identified, saying that the Speaker of the House was not included in the decision of the petition filed in the Supreme Court that the Speaker was also used in power generation in Koshi. Pandey insists that this will confirm that the claim is not enough.

With the change in the power equation at the center, Chief Minister Pandey dismissed 2 ministers of the Maoists on Falgun 22, the day after the Maoists withdrew their support. According to the constitution, the trust vote should be taken within 30 days, but Chief Minister Pandey resigned. In order to prevent the UML-Maoist from reaching the majority, Chief Minister Pandey made Manange the Minister of Physical Infrastructure, who demanded an independent status saying that he had abandoned the unified socialist party. The RPP, which has 2 members, which was decisive in Gandaki, has also been pointing to the movement and saying that it will not join the power-centered activities.

Pandey is in the strategy of appointing the Chief Minister as the leader of a large party in accordance with Article 168 (3) of the Constitution, even if two or more parties do not have a majority.