16 members of Dahal’s new cabinet sworn in

KATHMANDU: Sixteen new members of Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s new cabinet were sworn in on Wednesday.

At a ceremony organized at the Office of the President on Wednesday evening, President Ram Chandra Poudel administered the oath of office and secrecy to seven ministers, including a deputy prime minister, from CPN-UML; four, including a deputy prime minister from CPN (Maoist Center), three, including a deputy prime minister, from Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), and two from CPN (Unified Socialist).

Padam Giri of UML, Dol Prasad Aryal of RSP, and Hit Bahadur Tamang of the Maoist Center were sworn in on Tuesday.

With this, the number of ministers in Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s cabinet has reached 20.

Dahal formed a new alliance with UML, RSP, and JSP on Monday. JSP, however, hasn’t decided about joining the government.

Ministers from UML:

1. Raghubir Mahaseth, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport
2. Rajendra Kumar Rai, Minister for Water Supply
3. Padam Giri, Minister for Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs
4. Balaram Adhikari, Minister for Land Management and Cooperatives
5. Bhagwati Chaudhary, Minister for Women, Children, and Senior Citizens
6. Damodar Bhandari, Minister for Industry, Commerce, and Supplies
7. Hari Upreti, Minister for Defence
8. Jwalakumari Sah, Minister for Agriculture and Cooperatives

Ministers from Maoist Center:

1. Narayankaji Shrestha, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs
2. Barsha Man Pun, Minister for Finance
3. Shakti Bahadur Basnet, Minister of Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation
4. Rekha Sharma, Minister for Communications and Information Technology
5. Hit Bahadur Tamang, Minister for Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation

Ministers from RSP:

1. Ravi Lamichhane, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs
2. Dol Prasad Aryal, Minister for Labor, Employment, and Social Security
3. Sumana Shrestha, Minister for Education, Science, and Technology
4. Biraj Bhakta Shrestha, Minister for Youth and Sports

Ministers from CPN (Unified Socialist):

1. Bhanu Bhakta Joshi, Minister for Federal Affairs and General Administration
2. Dhan Bahadur Budha, Minister for Urban Development