Summary of reported events. Dr. Surendra Zhaala, General Secretary of the Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal, has declared the decision by Lumbini Province Assembly Speaker Tularam Gharti illegal and stated that they will pursue legal action. The Lumbini Province Assembly Secretariat issued a notification on Wednesday regarding Ambika Kafle’s party defection, in accordance with the Political Parties Act and its regulations. Dr. Zhaala accused the Speaker of bias for dismissing Assembly Member Kafle based on recommendations from expelled members of the party. Dated 24 Bhadra, Butwal.
In a statement, Dr. Surendra Zhaala reaffirmed that Speaker Tularam Gharti’s decision is illegal and that they will seek legal remedies. The notification concerning Ambika Kafle’s defection from the Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal was issued by the Lumbini Province Assembly Secretariat on Wednesday. Since the Provincial Assembly session was not in operation, the notification was published under the Speaker’s directive, referring to Section 35(2) of the Political Parties Act, 2073, and Rule 196 of the Lumbini Province Assembly Rules, 2079.
Dr. Zhaala said in an interview: “Based on recommendations by individuals expelled from the party and who are not even ordinary members, the Speaker’s dismissal of the party-affiliated assembly member is illegal. Although the Speaker should maintain a neutral, impartial, collaborative, and supervisory role, he is acting to protect the UML-Maoist coalition government,” he charged.
Dr. Zhaala also warned that the Speaker’s partisan decision will create difficulties for the provincial government. The Speaker had decided to expel Kafle from the Provincial Assembly membership based on recommendations from the Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal’s Lumbini Province Parliamentary Party. The Assembly Secretary, Durlabh Kumar Pun Magar, confirmed the public release of the notification about Kafle’s defection. The notification stated that the Secretariat issued the expulsion in accordance with legal procedures, citing Kafle’s violation of the party whip and actions contrary to party and parliamentary party decisions during Chief Minister Chetan Narayan Acharya’s vote of confidence in the Assembly. Kafle supports the party’s founding faction.
At the central level, the party had already sent a letter to the Assembly Secretariat expelling four provincial assembly members—Santosh Pandey, Bhandari Lal Ahir, Aadesh Agrawal, and Hema Belbase KC—stripping them of even ordinary membership. However, Speaker Tularam Gharti’s decision to punish Kafle, a supporter of the founding faction, without notifying the Secretariat about the dismissal of these four members according to that letter, has stirred controversy.
