Nepal gets full cabinet, 88 days after new PM Sher Bahadur Deuba' appointment

Kathmandu [Nepal], October 8 (ANI): Nepal on Friday got its full and functional government, 88 days after the appointment of Sher Bahadur Deuba as successor to KP Sharma Oli.
Expanding and reassigning some of his earlier inducted ministers, Nepal now have a full cabinet with 25 ministers including sitting Prime Minister Deuba.
According to Nepal's Constitution of 2015, the number of members on board the cabinet can not exceed 25 including the Prime Minister.
Back in July, Deuba was appointed Prime Minister by the Supreme Court issuing a mandamus as it gave its final verdict over a petition filed against the dissolution of parliament by former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.
Despite having a clear majority of 165 out of 249 votes in reinstated parliament on July 18, Deuba faced hurdles to take the top post, from within the party as well as from the coalition.
Deuba currently leads a coalition of four parties including his own Nepali Congress, CPN-Maoist Center, is now joined by CPN-Unified Socialist and Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal.
As per The Himalayan Times, Deuba, in a bid to accommodate the new ministers, has also reshuffled the portfolios of some ministers in his cabinet.
"Gyandendra Bahadur Karki has been shifted to Ministry of Communication, Information and Technology from the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs while state minister for health Umesh Shrestha will has been assigned the duty of Minister of State for Industry, Commerce and Supplies ministry,' said The Himalayan Times.
The report said now Nepali Congress leaders Dilendra Badu will be the Minister of Law, Uma Regmi Minister of Women, Children and Senior Citizens, Minendra Rijal Minister of Defense and Umakanta Chaudhary Minister of Drinking Water.
"Similarly, CPN-Maoist Center's Shashi Shrestha will assume responsibility as Minister for Land Management, Devendra Paudel Minister of Education, Science and Technology and Maheshwar Gahatraj will be the Minister of Youth and Sports," the publication reported.
Meanwhile, in the new cabinet, Renu Yadav has been appointed the Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Rajendra Shrestha Minister for Federal Affairs and General Administration, Ram Sahay Yadav Minister for Forests and Environment and Pramod Sah the Minister for Agriculture and Livestock. They will represent Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal.
"Lastly, from the newly formed CPN-Unified Socialist, Ram Kumari Jhankri will be the Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Birodh Khatiwada will be the Minister of Health and Population, Kisan Shrestha Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security and Prem Ale Minister of Urban Development," the report said.
The Himalayan times inform that Bhawani Khapung from CPN-US is appointed as Minister of State for Health and Population while JSPn's Bodhmaya Kumari Yadav has been appointed as State Minister for Education, Science and Technology.
Meanwhile, Gajendra Hamal has been given charge of the Ministery of Industry, Commerce and Supplies.
"NC's Balkrishna Khand (Home), Narayan Khadka (Foreign Affairs), Gyandendra Bahadur Karki (Communication and Information); and CPN-MC's Janardan Sharma (Finance) and Pampha Bhusal (Energy) were previously appointed ministers in the incumbent government," the publication added. (ANI)