Newly appointed Chief Minister of Bagmati Province, Indra Bahadur Baniya, has officially taken the oath of office and secrecy. The swearing-in ceremony was conducted by Province Chief Deepak Prasad Devkota on Tuesday afternoon at the Office of the Province Chief.
Immediately after assuming office, CM Baniya formed a nine-member Cabinet, including one minister without portfolio. Bagmati Province currently has 14 ministries under the Office of the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers.
On the recommendation of CM Baniya, Province Chief Devkota appointed two ministers from the Nepali Congress and six from the CPN-UML. The cabinet formation and portfolio allocation were done under Article 168(9) of the Constitution of Nepal.
From the Nepali Congress, Shivraj Adhikari and Krishnakumar Tamang were appointed as ministers. Adhikari’s ministry is yet to be assigned, while Tamang has been given the Ministry of Water Supply, Energy, and Irrigation. Both are newcomers to the Cabinet, and the remaining Congress-held ministries are currently overseen by the Chief Minister himself.
Among the UML ministers, all except one are new faces. Kiran Thapa, who previously served in the government led by Bahadur Singh Lama Tamang, is the only returning minister and will again lead the Ministry of Health.
The other ministerial appointments from UML are:
- Madhusudan Paudel: Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Development
- Jayaram Thapa: Minister for Labor, Employment, and Transport
- Bharat Bahadur KC: Minister for Forests and Environment
- Dr. Dinesh Chandra Devkota: Minister for Physical Infrastructure Development
- Bindu Shrestha: Minister for Industry, Commerce, Land, and Administration
All appointed ministers were sworn in during a ceremony attended by CM Baniya and presided over by Province Chief Devkota. As per the current power-sharing agreement between Nepali Congress and CPN-UML, Congress holds the Chief Minister’s office and eight ministries, while UML holds six.
Earlier, the two largest parties in the provincial assembly—Congress and UML—had agreed to lead the provincial government in rotation for the remaining term, each for 20 months. Bahadur Singh Lama Tamang from the Congress had already served over 12 months as Chief Minister. According to the agreement, Baniya will lead the government until next Chaitra (March/April), after which leadership will be handed over to UML.
After his oath, CM Baniya assured the public that his administration would focus on good governance and effective service delivery. His appointment followed the resignation of CM Lama, after which the Province Chief had called for claims to form a new government.
Baniya, who represents Makwanpur Constituency 2(2) in the Provincial Assembly, is the sixth Chief Minister of Bagmati Province. He assumed the role with the support of 64 provincial assembly members from Nepali Congress and CPN-UML.
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