BUTWAL, April 7: A four-member Cabinet has been formed in Lumbini Province. Jokh Bahadur Mahara, who was appointed as the chief minister on Friday, took the oath of office and secrecy at the province chief's office in Butwal and inducted three ministers to form a four-member council of ministers in the initial phase.
Among the newly-appointed ministers are Chetnarayan Acharya from CPN-UML, Dipendra Pun from CPN (Maoist Center) and Bhandari Lal Ahir from Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP). Acharya from Arghakhanchi is the deputy leader of the UML parliamentary party.
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Dipendra Pun of Rolpa, who emerged as an independent candidate in the last election, defeated the common candidate of the Nepali Congress and Maoists, Amar Singh Pun, the provincial president of Nepali Congress. He was also elected a provincial lawmaker in the previous election. Ahir from Banke previously served as the provincial Minister for Agriculture and Land Management in the previous government.
The Chief Minister's Secretariat said that the remaining ministers will be appointed after the chief minister receives a vote of confidence. After the resignation of the outgoing chief minister of Lumbini Province, Dilli Bahadur Chaudhary, due to a change in the central power equation, Mahara, the leader of the Maoist Center parliamentary party, was appointed as the chief minister with the support of 48 members of the provincial assembly - consisting of 47 from the five political parties and one independent provincial assembly member.
A written agreement has been reached between the parties to include the CPN (Unified Socialist) party and independent provincial lawmaker Khadga Basnet as a minister. It has been agreed that JSP will oversee the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Management along with the Ministry of Urban Development and Tourism.
In addition to this, there is also a plan to allocate a ministry to the Nagarik Unmukti Party, which supports the chief minister’s appointment, to participate in the government. With the involvement of multiple parties in the government, there are preparations underway to expand the existing 10 ministries.
