PM inducts new ministers in Cabinet

• Eight fresh faces in Cabinet
• Portfolios of six changed

KATHMANDU, DECEMBER 25

Prime minister KP Sharma Oli addresses the meeting of the Council of Ministers at his official residence in Baluwatar, Kathmandu, on Friday, December 25, 2020. Photo: PM’s Private Secretariat/Rajan Kafle

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli appointed eight new Cabinet ministers and one minister of state today, first time after he recommended dissolution of the House of Representatives on December 20. President Bidhya Devi Bhandari administered the oath of office and secrecy to the newly appointed ministers.

Portfolios of ministers
Name of the minister	Portfolio
Top Bahadur Raymajhi	Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation
Manichandra Thapa	Drinking Water and Sanitation
Prabhu Sah	Urban Development
Prem Bahadur Ale	Forest and Environment
Ganesh Thagunna	Federal Affairs and General Administration
Gauri Shankar Chaudhary	Labour, Employment, and Social Security
Juli Kumari Mahato	Women, Children, and Senior Citizens
Bhanu Bhakta Dhakal (portfolio changed)	Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation
Hridayesh Tripathi (portfolio changed)	Health and Population
Lilanath Shrestha (portfolio changed)	Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs
Shiva Maya Tumbahangphe (portfolio changed)	Land Management, Cooperatives, and Poverty Alleviation
Krishna Gopal Shrestha (portfolio changed)	Education, Science, and Technology
Padma Aryal (portfolio changed)	Agriculture and Livestock Development
Dawa Lama	Youth and Sports
Bimala Bishwakarma (Minister of State)	Industries, Commerce, and Supplies

The PM changed portfolios of six ministers — Krishna Gopal Shrestha, Shiva Maya Tumbahangphe, Lilanath Shrestha, Bhanu Bhakta Dhakal, Hridayesh Tripathi and Padma Aryal — and removed Minister of Youth and Sports Jagat Bahadur Sunar (Bishwakarma) from his Cabinet. He also removed Minister of State for Industries, Commerce and Supplies Moti Lal Dugad.

Seven ministerial portfolios had fallen vacant after ministers loyal to Nepal Communist Party (NCP) Co-chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal and senior NCP leader Madhav Kumar Nepal resigned on December 20 to protest the dissolution of the House of Representatives.

Seven ministers — Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Development Ghanshyam Bhusal, Minister of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Yogesh Kumar Bhattarai, Minister of Energy, Water Resource and Irrigation Barshaman Pun, Minister of Forest and Environment Shakti Bahadur Basnet, Minister of Labour and Employment and Social Security Rameshwor Ray Yadav, Minister of Drinking Water Bina Magar, and Minister of Education, Science, and Technology Giriraj Mani Pokhrel — had resigned from the Cabinet the day the House of Representatives was dissolved.

Three newly inducted ministers — Top Bahadur Raymajhi, Mani Thapa, and Prabhu Sah — were formerly associated with CPN-Maoist Centre.

They left the Dahal faction to join the Oli faction when the NCP suffered a vertical split.

Prabhu Sah had even attended the Central Committee meeting called by the Dahal faction but he left the faction in protest of two co-chairperson system in the party.

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