Hetauda, September 17
The Bagmati provincial government is preparing to expand its Cabinet, with Chief Minister Kiran Thapa Magar preparing to appoint Rama Ale Magar as minister for Agriculture, Livestock, Forest and Environment on Thursday.
Ale Magar has arrived in Hetauda and is expected to take the oath of office and secrecy on Thursday evening. She previously served as youth and sports minister in the government led by Shalikram Jamarkattel.
Of the two ministries allocated to the CPN in the Bagmati government, Saral Sahyatri Poudel, who comes from the CPN (Maoist Centre) background, was appointed minister for Economic Affairs and Planning, while the other ministry was allocated to the then CPN (Unified Socialist), the Madhav Nepal faction.
According to the earlier agreement within the CPN, preparations have been made to appoint and swear in Ale Magar on Thursday.
The coalition government of the CPN-UML, CPN and Rastriya Prajatantra Party has seven ministries besides the Office of the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers. Six ministers were appointed on August 20, while the ministries of Internal Affairs, Law and Cooperatives and Agriculture remained vacant. UML’s Gyan Bahadur Tamang was appointed minister without portfolio.
Under the power-sharing arrangement, UML has three ministries, including the chief minister; the CPN has three ministries along with the provincial Assembly speaker, and RPP has three ministries.
The CPN has Saral Sahyatri as minister for Economic Affairs; UML’s Bharat KC is minister for Physical Infrastructure; and RPP’s Gir Bahadur Tamang is minister for Health and Social Affairs, Raju Bisht is minister for Water Supply, Energy and Irrigation, and Rajendra Prajapati is minister for Industry, Tourism, Labour and Transport.
CPN seeks additional ministry
During the Cabinet expansion, the faction led by Ganga Narayan Shrestha and Krishna Prasad Sharma Khanal within the CPN has strongly demanded the appointment of another minister from the party.
The lawmakers have demanded that the vacant Internal Affairs, Law and Cooperatives Ministry, which was previously allocated to UML, should also be given to the CPN.
According to a CPN lawmaker, the party has already proposed to Chief Minister Thapa that it should receive another ministry due to growing pressure within the party. However, Thapa has not agreed to the proposal. The chief minister is under pressure to appoint his party’s minister without a portfolio, Gyan Bahadur Tamang, to the Law Ministry.
The ruling coalition has agreed not to increase the number of ministries beyond eight.
“Party leadership has instructed us to first have Rama Ale Magar sworn in. There has been no agreement yet on taking another ministry. We are still discussing it,” the CPN lawmaker said.
