PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal expands Cabinet, inducts 15 more ministers

Prime Minister of Nepal Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Wednesday expanded the Cabinet, inducting 15 more ministers from partners of the seven-party alliance. The expanded Cabinet has 23 ministers, including four deputy prime ministers and three ministers of state.

Dahal inducted one more deputy prime minister Rajendra Lingden from the right-wing Rastriya Prajatantra Party. Alongside deputy prime ministership, Rajendra Lingden also holds the Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation portfolios. Minister for Finance Bishnu Paudel, Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Narayan Kaji Shrestha, and Minister for Home Affairs Rabi Lamichhane are the other deputy prime ministers in the Dahal administration.

President Bidhya Devi Bhandari administered the oath of office and secrecy to the Cabinet ministers in the presence of the prime minister today. All the ministers who took the oath of office and secrecy assumed their office today.

Six of the ministers are from the CPN-MC, including the PM, eight are from the UML, four from the Rastriya Swatantra Party, four are from the Rastriya Prajatantra Party, and one is from the Janamat Party.