JSP Chairman Upendra Yadav to Lead Newly Formed Government

Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP) Chairman Upendra Yadav has been appointed to lead the party in the newly formed government. The decision was made during the party’s central executive committee meeting held on Thursday morning.

Yadav, alongside Naval Kishore Sah, elected from Saptari-1, will represent the party in the Pushpa Kamal Dahal government. Yadav is slated to assume the roles of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Health, while Sah will oversee the Forest Ministry. Additionally, the party is expected to secure a state minister position under Yadav’s leadership, as confirmed by Purna Basnet, the chief of the party’s publicity department.

Basnet further revealed that the party’s ministers are likely to be sworn in on the same day of the decision.

The formation of the new ruling coalition was agreed upon during a meeting held at Baluwatar on Sunday night. The meeting, which included Maoist Chairman and Prime Minister Dahal, UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli, Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) President Rabi Lamichhane, and JSP Chairman Upendra Yadav, culminated in the decision to form a new governing alliance.

This development marks a shift from the previous coalition, which was formed approximately a year ago before the presidential election. Following Dahal’s departure from the coalition with UML, the coalition comprising NC, Maoist Center, JSP, and Unified Socialist had decided to reinstate the pre-election alliance.

Dahal’s departure from the pre-election alliance with NC and Unified Socialist occurred on December 25, 2022. Subsequently, he assumed the position of Prime Minister with the support of CPN-UML, Rastriya Swatantra Party, RPP, JSP, Janamat Party, and Nagarik Unmukti Party after NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba declined to make him PM initially.

During this political maneuvering, Oli had assured NC that UML would not form an alliance with Maoist Center and instead proposed an alliance with NC to form the new government. This move aimed to persuade Deuba to withdraw from the agreement to install Dahal as the PM initially.