Nepal cabinet has eight more ministers

Kathmandu, June 5 (ANI): Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal has expanded his three-member cabinet by inducting one deputy prime minister and seven new ministers including six ministers from Nepali Congress and one from the CPN (ML) here on Thursday.

Prime Minister Nepal administered the oath of office and secrecy to the new Ministers at in the presence of the President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav.

Nepali Congress (NC) leader Sujata Koirala took the oath as the Minister for Foreign Affairs, while the portfolios of other NC cabinet members have not been finalised.

Similarly, Madheshi Janadhikar Forum (MJF) leader Bijaya Kumar Gachhedar was sworn in as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Physical Planning and Works, and CPN-ML politburo member Dambar Bahadur Shrestha took the oath as Forest Minister.

On May 23, UML leaders Surendra Pandey and Bidya Bhandari were appointed as the Finance and the Defence Ministers respectively.

Meanwhile, Madheshi Janadhikar Forum chairman Upendra Yadav has said appointment of Gachhadar as the deputy prime minister is unconstitutional.fter his efforts to prevent Gachhadar's appointment failed, Yadav and his supporters have said that the party would withdraw support to the UML-led coalition.

Soon after Gachhadar was sworn in as the deputy Prime Minister, MJF has recalled him from the cabinet and written to Prime Minister not to appoint any more ministers from the party without approval of the party.

Yadav also accused the UML and Nepali Congress of trying to split his party by appointing a party candidate without the party's decision, Nepalnews reported. (ANI)