BIRATNAGAR, Dec 31: In a tit-for-tat move, Chief Minister of Province 1, Sher Dhan Rai, suspended 15 provincial assembly members belonging to the Dahal-Nepal faction of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) for the next three months.

The move comes hours after the Dahal-Nepal faction of the NCP picked Bhim Acharya as the next parliamentary party leader of Province 1. Acharya, who is close to former Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal, belongs to the Dahal-Nepal faction.

The Dahal-Nepal faction holds a majority in the NCP's parliamentary party of Province 1.

On Thursday morning, a majority of the lawmakers of the NCP picked Acharya in place of Sher Dhan Rai.  

Rai, the chief minister (CM), was the provincial parliamentary party leader of the party. Rai belongs to the Oli-led faction. Acharya was proposed as the next chief minister of the province by the rival faction.

CM Rai sacked Indra Ango, a provincial minister and a provincial lawmaker of the NCP, for taking the lead to push a no-confidence motion against him.

The ruling NCP has 67 lawmakers in Province 1 assembly. Of them, 36 lawmakers filed the no-confidence motion against CM Rai on Sunday this week.

 
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