The Nepal Weekly 
September 3, 2024Gandaki Province government got full shape on Monday as Chief Minister Surendra Raj Pandey appointed four ministers from UML.
After adding four UML Ministers the nine-member cabinet has been completed, said officials.
Pandey, the leader of the Nepali Congress parliamentary party, was appointed as the Chief Minister with the order of the Supreme Court. Pandey now enjoys the support of 88 per cent of the members of the Gandaki state assembly.
In the 60-member provincial assembly, the current government has the support of 53 provincial MPs, including 27 from NC, 22 from CPN (UML), independent MP Rajiv Gurung, MP from Nepali Samajwadi Party Phanindra Devkota, and two from Rashtriya Prajatantra Party (RPP).
A couple of two months after the formation of a joint government of the CPN (UML) and the NC, Gandaki witnessed formation of a government with the support of more than two-thirds. The ministers who were added to UML took the oath of office and secrecy before the provincial chief Dilliraj Bhatta on Monday.
The ministers appointed include Prakash Bahadur KC for the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure Development and Transport; Padma GC for the Ministry of Agriculture, Land Management and Cooperatives; Krishna Pathak for the Ministry of Health; and Mitralal Basyal for the Ministry of Industry and Tourism.
Independent MP Deepak Manange, who was initially assigned to the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure Development and Transport, has been reassigned to the Ministry of Forests and Environment. Nepal Samajwadi Party’s Phanindra Devkota has been given the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation.
