NC-UML coalition ends in Bagmati Province

By Rammani Dahal, Makwanpur, July 23: The governing coalition between the Nepali Congress (NC) and CPN-UML in Bagmati Province has fallen apart.

The two parties began their power-sharing partnership in the third week of July, 2024 agreeing to lead the provincial government on a rotational basis. Under the agreement, each party was to head the government for half of the remaining term. 

However, the coalition has now collapsed before the UML had the opportunity to assume leadership of the provincial government.The coalition ended after the UML formally withdrew its support on Wednesday. 

On the same day, UML ministers submitted their joint resignation letters to the Chief Minister Indra Bahadur Baniya to the Chief Secretary at the Office of the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers.

In July, 2024 then NC parliamentary party leader Bahadur Singh Lama Tamang became CM with UML support. However, following internal disputes within the NC that led to a change in the party’s parliamentary leadership. 

Baniya was appointed the province’s sixth Chief Minister on August 5, 2025. Before formally withdrawing support, UML ministers held a press conference in Hetauda to announce both their resignations and the withdrawal of support from the government.

According to the coalition agreement, the remaining term of the provincial government was to be shared equally, with each party leading the government for 20 months. 

However, Bahadur Singh Lama Tamang from the NC remained Chief Minister for more than 12 months.

The UML had maintained that it should have assumed leadership as mid-March under the agreement. Later, after both parties agreed that the leadership change would take place following the presentation of the provincial budget, UML Bagmati Parliamentary Party leader Jagannath Thapaliya reiterated the party’s claim to lead the government.

Despite the UML’s repeated demands, the coalition ultimately collapsed. On Wednesday, the UML submitted a letter to Bagmati Province Chief, Deepak Prasad Devkota, formally withdrawing its support for the NC-led government. With the withdrawal of support, CM Baniya has lost his majority in the Provincial Assembly.

The letter was submitted by UML leaders, including Minister for Agriculture, Livestock, Forests and Environment Madhusudan Paudel, along with other UML ministers.

Article 188(2) of the constitution provides that if the party represented by the Chief Minister splits or a coalition partner withdraws its support, the Chief Minister must table a motion of confidence in the Provincial Assembly within 30 days.

With the UML withdrawing its support, the way has now been opened for the formation of a new provincial government had tendered their joint resignations with immediate effect from Wednesday.