TAPLEJUNG, July 26: CPN-UML Koshi Province parliamentary party deputy leader Til Kumar Menyangbo has begun receiving congratulatory messages as the next chief minister even before his official appointment.
Social media has been flooded with posts congratulating Menyangbo as Koshi’s chief minister. Speaking to Republica over the phone from Kathmandu, Menyangbo said he has received a “green signal” for the post.
“It will most likely happen,” he said, adding that he had also met CPN-UML Chair and former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.
Til Kumar Menyangbo elected deputy leader of CPN-UML Parliament...
The current chief minister of Koshi Province is CPN-UML central secretary Hikmat Kumar Karki. Under the power-sharing agreement between the CPN-UML and the CPN (Maoist Centre), the UML is set to lead three provincial governments, including Koshi.
A UML central committee member and the party’s Taplejung district in-charge, Menyangbo, is considered the party’s second most senior leader in Koshi Province after Karki.
He was elected to the Koshi Provincial Assembly from Taplejung Constituency No. 1 (A) in the 2022 elections. He has previously served twice as minister for drinking water, irrigation and energy in the provincial government and also briefly held the health portfolio.
Menyangbo first entered the federal parliament after defeating Nepali Congress leader Suryaman Gurung in the 1999 general election.
In the 2022 provincial election, he defeated CPN (Unified Socialist) candidate Khem Bahadur Banem, who was backed by an alliance of the Nepali Congress, CPN (Maoist Centre) and CPN (Unified Socialist). Menyangbo secured 12,772 votes, while Banem received 8,733.
Known as a seasoned party organizer, Menyangbo led the UML in Taplejung for many years under both the party’s former secretary-led structure and its current chairperson-led system.
