POKHARA, Sept 2: The CPN-UML has finalized the names of four ministers for Gandaki Province. According to sources, Krishna Pathak from Baglung, Padma Jisi from Nawalpur, Prakash Bahadur KC from Kaski, and Mitralal Basyal from Parbat have been chosen as ministers by the party.
UML parliamentary party leader in the province, Khagaraj Adhikari, had stated that there would be no repeat faces among the ministers this time. Following a recent cabinet meeting on Sunday, which finalized the scope of the ministries and set their number to nine, the UML has also decided on the names of the ministers.
Gandaki Province set to become 'Bright Gandaki Province'
By considering factions and geography, party leader Adhikari finalized the names only this morning, according to sources close to him.
Basyal from Parbat, who is the senior-most member of the provincial assembly, had also served as the Speaker. Padma Jisi from Nawalpur had previously been discussed as a potential minister. She is aligned with UML Vice-Chairman Prithvi Subba Gurung, while the others are from the Khagaraj faction.
In Gandaki, there is factional politics within the UML between the factions of UML Standing Committee Member Khagaraj and UML Vice-Chairman Prithvi Subba Gurung.
In Gandaki Province, out of the nine ministries, Nepal Samajwadi Party's Phanindra Devkota and independent provincial assembly member Rajib Gurung (Deepak Manange) will support Chief Minister Surendra Raj Pandey. With Nepali Congress retaining their quota, UML has been allocated four ministries. All four UML ministers are set to take oath today.
