DHANGADHI, Aug 22: After weeks of wrangling over ministerial berths, Sudurpaschim Province Chief Minister Khag Raj Bhatta expanded his Cabinet on Thursday, appointing three ministers and two state ministers from the Nepali Communist Party (NCP).
Om Bikram Bhat ‘Saral’ has been appointed Minister for Physical Infrastructure Development, Prakash Rawal Minister for Industry, Tourism, Forest and Environment, and Khushiram Chaudhary Minister for Internal Affairs. Bhatta had been handling all three ministries himself since taking office.
Janaki Kunwar Paudel has been appointed State Minister for Physical Infrastructure Development, while Indira Giri has been appointed State Minister for Industry, Tourism, Forest and Environment. Province Chief Nazir Miya administered the oath of office and secrecy to the newly appointed ministers and state ministers on Thursday evening.
The appointments bring the 10-member provincial Cabinet, including the chief minister, to full strength.
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The Cabinet expansion was delayed largely due to intense competition among lawmakers for the five positions allocated to the NCP. The party had to balance claims from its three constituent forces—the former CPN (Maoist Centre), Nagarik Unmukti Party (NUP) and CPN (Unified Socialist).
Bhat was elected from the former Maoist Centre, Rawal from the former Unified Socialist and Chaudhary from the former NUP.
The Sudurpaschim government was formed under NCP leadership following an agreement reached between CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli and NCP Coordinator Pushpa Kamal Dahal on July 25.
Under the power-sharing deal, the UML received three ministerial positions and one state ministerial position, while the NCP received three ministerial positions and two state ministerial positions. Bhatta had appointed four UML ministers on August 14, the day he took the oath as chief minister.
The UML nominees are Santoshi Thapa Sharma as Minister for Social Development, Chakra Malla as Minister for Economic Affairs, Daman Bhandari as Minister for Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperatives, and Janaki Bam Air as State Minister for Economic Affairs.
The NCP had formed a three-member task force led by its Sudurpaschim in-charge Bhanubhakta Joshi to select its ministers. But with 12 lawmakers competing for the available positions, the task force failed to reach a consensus.
At its meeting on Thursday, the task force decided to forward the names of all 12 aspirants to the party’s central leadership. The final nominees were then selected by the central leadership, paving the way for the Cabinet expansion.
The 12 aspirants included seven lawmakers elected from the former Maoist Centre, three from the NUP and two from the Unified Socialist. Of the NCP’s 22 provincial assembly members, 11 are from the former Maoist Centre, seven from the NUP and four from the Unified Socialist.
Bhatta, who was appointed chief minister on August 14, had secured a vote of confidence from the Provincial Assembly last Wednesday before finalizing his Cabinet amid intense competition for ministerial posts.
With the Cabinet now complete, the government’s immediate challenge is to address the budget vacuum. Since the provincial budget has yet to be passed, introducing a budget for the current fiscal year has been identified as its top priority.
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