Prime Minister (PM) KP Sharma Oli is expanding the Cabinet Thursday inducting seven ministers and two state ministers.
He will fill home, communication, agriculture, industry, forest and general administration ministries among others. Khaga Raj Adhikari will be appointed home minister, Nainkala Thapa communication and information technology minister, Jwala Kumari Sah agriculture minister, Narad Muni Rana forest minister, Raj Kishore Yadav industry minister, Ganesh Pahadi general administration minister, Mohan Baniya minister without portfolio and Asha BK minister of state for forest, according to a Baluwatar source.
Adhikari from Kaski was health minister in the Cabinet of Sushil Koirala.
Similarly, Thapa is wife of former home minister Ram Bahadur Thapa whose last appointment was revoked by the Supreme Court (SC) pointing that those who are not lawmakers can only be appointed ministers once.
The newly appointed ministers are set to be sworn in Thursday itself.
Oli reshuffled the Cabinet Friday night. The Cabinet now has three deputy PMs, 12 ministers and two state ministers.
Bishnu Paudel (finance), Raghubir Mahaseth (foreign) and Rajendra Mahato are the three DPMs.
Education Minister Krishna Gopal Shrestha, Law Minister Lila Nath Shrestha and Physical Infrastructure Minister Basanta Nembang were the only ministers other than Paudel to not have been ousted during the reshuffle.
Sher Bahadur Tamang is the new Health Minister replacing Hridayesh Tripathi.
Oli also inducted ministers from the Thakur-Mahato faction of Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP) led by Senior Leader Rajendra Mahato.
Sharat Singh Bhandari got Energy Ministry, Anil Jha Water Supplies Ministry, Uma Shankar Argariya Youth and Sports Ministry, Bimal Srivastav Labor Ministry, Laxman Lal Karna Land Reforms Ministry, Chanda Chaudhary Women Children and Social Welfare Ministry and Iqbal Miya Youth and Sports Ministry.
Chandrakanta Chaudhary was appointed Minister of State for Energy and Renuka Gurung Minister of State for Women Children and Social Welfare.
Petitions against the Cabinet reshuffle are sub judice at the Supreme Court (SC) which on Tuesday ordered the government to furnish reasons for Cabinet reshuffle in writing within 15 days.
