PM Dahal expands cabinet

KATHMANDU: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has expanded his cabinet by inducting one deputy prime minister and 12 ministers.

The appointment of Rajendra Lingden of Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) as deputy prime minister has taken the number of deputy prime ministers in Dahal’s cabinet to four.

President Bidya Devi Bhandari administered the oath of office and secrecy to the new minister amid an event organized at the Office of the President on Tuesday afternoon.

Of the 12 ministers inducted in Dahal’s cabinet, four are from CPN-UML, three from CPN (Maoist Center), three from Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) and two from Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP).

Similarly, Dahal administered the oath of office and secrecy to Minister or State for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Sushila Shreepali, Minister for State for Energy, Irrigation and Water Resources Deepak Bahadur Singh of RPP and Minister of State for Health and Population Dr Toshima Karki of RSP.

Dahal’s Cabinet

1. Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Maoist Center) – Prime Minister

Deputy Ministers

2. Bishnu Poudel (CPN-UML) – Deputy PM & Minister for Finance
3. Narayan Kaji Shrestha (Maoist Center) – Deputy PM & Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport
4. Rabi Lamichhane (RSP) – Deputy PM & Ministry of Home Affairs
5. Rajendra Lingden (RPP) – Deputy PM & Minister for Energy, Irrigation and Water Resources

Ministers

6. Rajendra Rai (CPN-UML) – Minister for Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation
7. Jwala Kumari Shah (CPN-UML) – Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Development
8. Damodar Bhandari (CPN-UML) – Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies
9. Dr Bimala Rai (CPN-UML) – Minister for Foreign Affairs
10. Padam Giri (CPN-UML) – Minister for Health and Population
11. Hari Upreti (CPN-UML) – Minister for Defence
12. Bhagwati Chaudhary (CPN-UML) – Minister for Women and Children
13. Rekha Sharma (Maoist Center) – Minister for Information & Communication Technology
14. Sudan Kiranti (Maoist Center) – Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation
15. Aman Lal Modi (Maoist Center) – Minister for Federal Affairs and General Administration
16. Shishir Khanal (RSP) – Minister for Education
17. DP Aryal (RSP) – Minister for Labor and Employment
18. Bikram Pandey (RPP) – Minister for Urban Development
19. Dhruba Bahadur Pradhan (RPP) – Minister for Law and Justice
20. Abdul Khan (Janamat Party) – Minister for Water Supply

Ministers of State
21. Sushila Shreepali (Maoist Center) – Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation
22. Dr Toshima Karki (RSP) – Ministry of Health and Population
23. Deepak Bahadur Singh (RPP) – Ministry of Energy, Irrigation and Water Resources