Butwal, October 24
Three newly appointed ministers in the Lumbini Province took the oath of office and secrecy today, following their appointments on Wednesday. Chief Minister Chet Narayan Acharya had appointed Janmajaya Timilsina from Bardiya and Devkaran Kalwar from Nawalparasi West, both from the Nepali Congress, along with Adesh Kumar Agrawal from Banke, representing the Janata Samajwadi Party.
Timilsina has been assigned to the Ministry of Social Development, Kalwar to the Ministry of Forests and Environment, and Agrawal to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Law. All three were sworn in by Lumbini Province Chief Krishna Bahadur Gharti Magar at a ceremony held at the Province Chief’s Office in Butwal.
Chet Narayan Acharya was appointed Chief Minister on July 23, with the backing of 56 lawmakers from the Nepali Congress and CPN-UML. Initially, Timilsina, who was expected to join the cabinet as the Chief Whip of the Nepali Congress, was removed from the ministerial list at the last moment, leading to internal dissatisfaction within the party. This delay in resolving internal conflicts had kept the cabinet incomplete for an extended period.
With the addition of the three new ministers, the Lumbini Provincial Cabinet has now expanded to 11 members. Out of the 12 ministries, five ministers, including the Chief Minister, are from the UML, while the remaining five are from the Nepali Congress. Chief Minister Acharya is currently handling the Ministry of Youth and Sports.
Despite the expansion, there has been dissatisfaction within the Congress party regarding the lack of female representation in the cabinet. Lawmaker Nima Giri, who had been advocating for women’s inclusion in the cabinet, resigned from her position as Chief Whip, citing workload issues.
The swearing-in ceremony was attended by Chief Minister Chet Narayan Acharya, Nepali Congress leader and former Chief Minister Dilli Bahadur Chaudhary, opposition leader and former Chief Minister from the CPN (Maoist Centre), Jokh Bahadur Mahara, and Speaker Tularam Gharti, among others.
