The chief minister of the Karnali Province is the head of government of Karnali Province. The chief minister is appointed by the governor of the province according to Article 167 of the Constitution of Nepal. The chief minister remains in office for five years or until the provincial assembly is dissolved, and is subject to no term limits, given that they have the confidence of the assembly.
The current chief minister is Mangal Bahadur Shahi of the Nepali Communist Party, in office since 29 July 2026.
Qualification The Constitution of Nepal sets the qualifications required to become eligible for the office of chief minister. A chief minister must meet the qualifications to become a member of the provincial assembly.
A member of the provincial assembly must be:
a citizen of Nepal a voter of the concerned province of 25 years of age or more not convicted of any criminal offense not disqualified by any law not holding any office of profit
In addition to this, the chief minister must be the parliamentary party leader of the party with the majority seats in the provincial assembly. If no party has a majority, the chief minister must have a majority in the assembly with the support from other parties. If within thirty days of the election, a chief minister is not appointed as such, or fails to obtain a vote of confidence from the assembly, the parliamentary party leader of the party with the most seats in the assembly is appointed chief minister. If the chief minister such appointed fails to obtain a vote of confidence in the assembly, any assembly member who can command a majority in the floor, irrespective of party allegiance, is appointed chief minister. If this chief minister also fails to obtain a vote of confidence, the governor dissolves the assembly and fresh elections are called.
List of chief ministers of Karnali province Portrait Name Term of office Assembly Political party Cabinet Assumed office Left office Time in office 1 Mahendra Bahadur Shahi 16 February 2018 1 November 2021 1st CPN (Maoist Centre) Mahendra Shahi 2 Jeevan Bahadur Shahi 2 November 2021 12 January 2023 Nepali Congress J. B. Shahi 3 Raj Kumar Sharma 12 January 2023 3 April 2024 2nd CPN (Maoist Centre) Sharma 4Yam Lal Kandel10 April 202428 July 2026CPN (UML)Kandel 5Mangal Bahadur Shahi29 July 2026IncumbentNepali Communist PartyMangal Shahi
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