Bhattarai administered oath of office and secrecy to Yadav and Shah in the presence of President Ram Baran Yadav at the latter´s office at Shital Niwas on Monday afternoon.[break]
This is the sixth cabinet reshuffle after Bhattarai was elected prime minister.
Yadav has replaced MPRF-R Chairman JP Gupta, who is serving jail term after being convicted of corruption, while Shah´s appointment has filled the post that had lied vacant after MPRF-R recalled Nandan Dutta from the cabinet, accusing him of not working as per the party´s instructions.
The prime minister had sacked Dutta on March 26 after a majority of MPRF-R lawmakers handed him a letter demanding Dutta´s dismissal as minister for agriculture and co-operatives.
The appointment of new ministers is likely to create dissatisfaction among MPRF-R lawmakers as Acting Chair Yadav had assured earlier that he would not join the cabinet.
“We had agreed in principle that the party would not nominate the acting chairman for minister,” said MPRF-R General Secretary Atmaram Sah, adding, “He did not consult with me regarding the issue.”
Sah said that even he was not informed about the swearing-in ceremony of the newly-appointed ministers.
“I will ask him how he will move ahead in both the party and the government as he had assured that the party leadership would not join the government,” Sah added.
Meanwhile, newly-appointed minister Yadav said he will work to improve the services being provided by Nepal Telecom.
Related story
Koshi Province govt expansion: Five ministers and two state min...
_20230226123652.jpg)
