Kathmandu, May 20 -- Nepali Congress and CPN-UML leaders are once again in negotiations to reshuffle provincial governments, reviving the same turn-by-turn power-sharing politics both parties themselves blamed for fuelling instability.

Senior leaders from the two parties have held a series of meetings in recent days to iron out a new arrangement under which Congress and UML would take turns to lead provincial governments. According to the leaders involved in the talks, Madhesh province is likely to remain untouched, but the other six provinces could see new chief ministers and coalition equations.

The latest negotiations come just months after Congress chief Gagan Kumar Thapa and vice-president Bishwo Prakash Sharma rose to party leader...