March 7, 2024
KATHMANDU – Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Wednesday expanded the Council of Ministers by inducting 16 new ministers.
The prime minister appointed four ministers from his party, the CPN (Maoist Centre), seven from the CPN-UML, three from the Rastriya Swatantra Party and two from the CPN (Unified Socialist). Earlier on Monday, a minister each from UML, Maoist Centre and Swatantra Party were inducted into the Cabinet. The prime minister still holds forest and environment and health and population portfolios.
The Dahal Cabinet is now 20-strong with three deputy prime ministers, one each from UML, Maoist Centre and Swatantra Party.
President Ramchandra Paudel administered the oath of office to the newly appointed ministers.
Raghubir Mahaseth will lead the UML team in the government as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport. Likewise, Rajendra Rai has been appointed the Minister for Water Supply; Bhagwati Chaudhary the Minister for Women, Children and Senior Citizens; Damodar Bhandari the Minister for Industry Commerce and Supplies and Jwala Kumari Sah the Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Development.
Similarly, Hari Uprety and Balram Adhikari took the oath of office and secrecy as Minister for Defence and Minister for Land Management and Cooperatives respectively.
Padam Giri, who was appointed as a minister without portfolio on Monday, from the same party will head the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs.
The Maoist Centre has given continuity to the previous team except for Sudan Kirati who was Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation. Kirati was mired in controversy for his alleged involvement in leasing the sacred Ramgram Stupa in Lumbini to a private company. UML and some other parties had been demanding his resignation over his controversial decision.
Narayan Kaji Shrestha from the Maoist Centre has been appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs. Shrestha was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs before the prime minister ditched the alliance with the Nepali Congress. Likewise, Barshaman Pun has been inducted into the Cabinet as Minister for Finance.
Shakti Bahadur Basnet and Rekha Sharma of the Maoist party have been reappointed as Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation and Minister for Communications and Information Technology respectively. They were leading the respective ministries before changes in the government as well.
The prime minister assigned the responsibility of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation to Hit Bahadur Tamang.
Party Chairman Rabi Lamichhane, vice-chair DP Aryal, Sumana Shrestha and Birajbhakta Shrestha from the Rastriya Swatantra Party joined the government. Lamichhane has been Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs. In January, Lamichhane resigned after the Supreme Court annulled his lawmaker status over his citizenship row. He reacquired the citizenship certificate and got reelected from his Chitwan constituency in a by-election held in April last year.
Likewise, Biraj Bhakta Shrestha took the oath as Minister for Youth and Sports and Sumana Shrestha as Minister for Education, Science and Technology. The prime minister also assigned the labour and employment portfolio to DP Aryal.
Aryal was minister for the same ministry in the Dahal-led Cabinet before they pulled out of the government in May last year.
Likewise, Bhanu Bhakta Joshi and Dhan Bahadur Budha from the Unified Socialist took an oath of office and secrecy as Minister for Federal Affairs and General Administration and Minister for Urban Development respectively.
The prime minister still holds forest and environment and health and population portfolios.
President Ramchanda Paudel on Monday had administered the oath of office and secrecy to three new ministers.
Breaking the alliance with the Nepali Congress, the largest party in the House of Representatives, Prime Minister Dahal joined hands with the CPN-UML, the second-largest in the lower house.
Dahal, who became prime minister with the support of CPN-UML in December 2022, broke the coalition and joined hands with the Nepali Congress just after a few months.