Pradhananga, who was minister for general administration, is now the minister for industry. Gautam, who was the state minister for general administration, is now the state minister for industry.[break]
Likewise, Mahendra Yadav, who was minister for industry, has been named the minister for general administration. State Minister for Industry Chaudhary has been given the responsibility of state minister for general administration.
According to the prime minister´s political advisor Raghuji Pant, the rejig comes as a result of the request made by the Tarai-Madhes Democratic Party (TMDP). The party had asked the prime minister to sack Mahendra Yadav and Chaudhary since the duo had defected from TMDP a month ago to form a new party, Tarai-Madhes Democratic Party-Nepal.
Four TMDP ministers had tendered resignation expressing their dissatisfaction with the prime minister accusing the latter of ´dillydallying´ in taking action against Yadav and Chaudhary. The prime minister, however, didn´t approve their resignations and reshuffled the cabinet instead.
A source at the prime minister´s office said Nepal urged the TMDP ministers to not relinquish their responsibility. "The prime minister wants to give continuity to the present ruling coalition even in the days to come. Therefore he didn´t accept their resignations," said the source.
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