Ramchandra Nepal

12 ministries including the Chief Minister’s office have been created in Lumbini to balance the division between the ruling coalition parties.

When Chief Minister Jokh Bahadur Mahara appointed 7 people as non-departmental ministers last Thursday, there were 11 ministries. While assigning responsibilities to them, the number of ministries has increased to 12 in the cabinet meeting held on Wednesday.

12 Ministries in Lumbini to arrange Bhagbanda Earlier, there were 8 ministers in 10 ministries in the government led by Dilli Bahadur Chaudhary of Congress. Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting added the Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens and the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation. The Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens has been entrusted to Bhagwati Adhikari of Integrated Samajwadi.

The Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation is held by Chief Minister Mahara himself. According to the source, there is one more ministry left for the Maoist to get according to the allocation. The Ministry of Energy will remain Maoist. When the alliance was divided, the Maoists got 3 ministries including the Chief Minister. The Maoists now have two ministries including the Chief Minister.

Janata Samajwadi Parliamentary Party leader Bhandarilal Ahir, who was appointed as a non-departmental minister on Chait 25 and assigned the responsibility of the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Management last Thursday, resigned from the minister’s post without taking office on Sunday. His name is still in the minister’s list. Chief Minister Mahara has not accepted Ahir’s resignation.

Ahir resigned saying that Chief Minister Mahara did not follow the agreement made on Chait 22. The ruling party had agreed in writing to give 2 ministries to Jaspa, which has 3 MPs. Chief Minister Mahara on Wednesday appointed Gulmi 2 (2) MP Dinesh Panthi from UML as Ministry of Internal Affairs, Law and Communications, Arjun Kumar KC from Kapilvastu 3 (1) as Forest and Environment Ministry, Ruppandehi 5 (1) MP Bhumishwar Dhakal as Urban and Water Supply Ministry and Banke 3 (1) Ratna Bahadur Khatri has been assigned the responsibility of Ministry of Social Development. According to government spokesperson Dipendra Kumar Pun Magar, the party leader from Civil Liberation Party, Bardia 2 (2) MP Dharma Bahadur Chaudhary has been assigned the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure Development and Transport and Nawalparasi 2 (1) independent MP Khadk Basnet as the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Cooperatives.

Non-departmental minister Chetnarayan Acharya of UML, who was appointed on Chait 25, was assigned the responsibility of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Planning, Dipendra Kumar Pun Magar of the Maoist as the government spokesperson and the Ministry of Health and Bhandarilal Ahir of the Jaspa was assigned the responsibility of the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Management on Thursday. “According to the instructions of the party, I have resigned from the post of minister,” said Ahir, “despite getting the ministry, I have resigned without taking office.” Discussions are going on between the Chief Minister and the party, it is hoped that some conclusions will be reached.

Jaspa Lumbini State President Ashok Yadav claimed that Jaspa will not join the government until the Chief Minister complies with the 7-point agreement. Currently, 5 of UML, 2 including Chief Minister of Maoist, Jaspa, Civil Liberation, Integrated Socialist and Independent got one ministry each. The name of Jaspaka Ahir, who has resigned, has not been removed from the list of ministers.