Lumbini Province Government Prepares for Cabinet Expansion After Vote of Confidence

Butwal. Chief Minister of Lumbini Province, Chetanarayan Acharya, has started preparations for cabinet expansion immediately after receiving a vote of confidence. He is internally preparing to seek names of ministers from the ruling coalition partners and finalize the ministry allocation by Friday. After the Nepali Congress left the ruling coalition, the government led by UML in the province has partners from CPN (Maoist Centre), Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP), and Rastriya Janamorcha. The province has 9 ministries including the Chief Minister's office, and ministries need to be allocated to parties other than Janamorcha. Currently, the provincial government has five ministers from UML including the Chief Minister, and two ministers from JSP. Minister of Agriculture Tulsi Chaudhary told Ratopati that the government expansion is being prepared. According to Minister Chaudhary, Chief Minister Acharya has asked for the names of leaders to be ministers from CPN (Maoist Centre). 'The cabinet will be expanded in a few days,' he said, 'The Chief Minister is preparing accordingly.' He clarified that the government expansion will happen after the list of ministers' names from CPN (Maoist Centre) arrives. UML is preparing to give the ministries vacated by Congress to CPN (Maoist Centre). However, sources indicate that CPN (Maoist Centre) has claimed important ministries like Finance and Health. Chief Minister Acharya is in favor of giving three ministries to CPN (Maoist Centre). He is preparing to finalize the allocation of ministries and how to manage JSP after discussions with the leaders of the ruling coalition partners. CPN (Maoist Centre) insists on getting three ministries, including the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Planning. However, in the current ministry structure, giving three ministries to CPN (Maoist Centre) poses a problem in managing the cabinet size and party allocations. An UML provincial assembly member stated that if CPN (Maoist Centre) is given three ministries, the only option is to remove one of the current ministers. The member informed that the Chief Minister is internally discussing this matter. In Lumbini, the number of ministries has been reduced to eight, excluding the Chief Minister and the Office of the Council of Ministers. During the ministry restructuring, the Ministry of Youth and Sports was merged into the Ministry of Social Development, and the Ministry of Industry and Transport was merged into the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Law. From JSP, Santosh Kumar Pandey is the Minister of Social Development and Bhandarilal Ahir is the Minister of Internal Affairs and Law. Meanwhile, CPN (Maoist Centre) has assigned its Province In-charge Chakrapani Khanal, Province Coordinator Abdul Hussen Khan, and Parliamentary Party Leader Jok Bahadur Mahara the responsibility of selecting ministers. CPN (Maoist Centre) MP Nar Maya Dhakal stated that these leaders are preparing to finalize the names of ministers soon and submit them to the Chief Minister. She informed that discussions are ongoing within the party regarding the names of leaders who will become ministers, and after the names are finalized, discussions will also be held with the Chief Minister regarding ministry responsibilities. Chief Minister Acharya had taken a vote of confidence from the Provincial Assembly on August 17. He was supported by 45 MPs including CPN (Maoist Centre), JSP, and Janamorcha, while 26 votes were cast against him. A majority in the Lumbini Provincial Assembly requires the support of 42 MPs. Janamorcha, which has only one seat, had already agreed not to participate in the cabinet even though it supported the government. JSP, citing that they helped save the government by giving a vote of confidence, has insisted on not relinquishing the two ministries they received.