KATHMANDU: The CPN-UML has significantly expanded its influence in the Gandaki government by securing four key ministries. Under the leadership of Nepali Congress’s Surendraraj Pandey, UML now holds the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure Development and Transport; the Ministry of Agriculture, Land Management and Cooperatives; the Ministry of Health; and the Ministry of Industry and Tourism. The ministers appointed to these positions are Prakash Bahadur KC, Padma GC, Krishna Pathak, and Mitralal Basyal, who were sworn in on Monday.
Chief Minister Pandey raised the total number of government ministries to nine after this arrangement. To accommodate UML's growth, independent MP Deepak Manange, who was first allocated to the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure Development and Transport, has been moved to the Ministry of Forests and Environment.
Prakash Bahadur KC, now overseeing the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure Development and Transport, is a proportional representation MP. Padma GC will manage the Ministry of Agriculture, Land Management and Cooperatives, Krishna Pathak is appointed to the Ministry of Health, and Mitralal Basyal will handle the Ministry of Industry and Tourism. Notably, the new UML ministers include members closely aligned with Khagaraj Adhikari and Prithvisubba Gurung, indicating a strategic distribution of influential positions within the party.
Other ministerial appointments include Bindukumar Thapa as Minister of Social Development, Youth, and Sports, and Dr. Tankaraj Gurung as Minister of Economic Affairs. Additionally, Nepali Congress has incorporated independent MP Deepak Manange and Phanindra Devkota from the Nepal Samajwadi Party into the government.
