Three ministers inducted in Nepal cabinet in latest expansion

Kathmandu : Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has inducted three more ministers in his cabinet, making it the ninth expansion of the council of ministers in five months since he took office in December last year following general elections.

In the latest round of expansion, Nepal President Ramchandra Paudel assigned ministerial portfolios to Dhan Raj Gurung, Mohan Bahadur Basnet and Digbahadur Limbu.

Gurung has been named as Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Basnet will look after Health and Population and Limbu will be Minister for Youth and Sports. The three ministers belong to Nepali Congress.

The appointments were made on recommendations of Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda, who is into his third stint as Prime Minister.

He reshuffled the cabinet in March after weeks of hiatus and was only able to induct 11 ministers which included a state minister.

The cabinet reshuffle had seen four leaders from Nepali Congress being inducted in the cabinet. The largest party in the ruling coalition could fill half of the seats allocated due to the rising dissatisfaction over the division of ministerial posts.

The cabinet can have a maximum strength of 25 and there are two vacancies now.