Three New Ministers to Take Oath in Bagmati Province Today

The oath-taking ceremony for three new ministers in the Bagmati Province government will take place today.

Chief Minister Bahadur Singh Lama appointed Govinda Lamsal, Gita Gurung, and Maya Shrestha as ministers on Wednesday. They will officially take their oaths this afternoon at 1 PM.

According to Devendra Sapkota, spokesperson for the Province Chief’s Office, the ceremony was scheduled for today because the election for the Nepali Congress parliamentary party leader was held on Wednesday.

In that election, Chief Minister Lama lost to Indra Bahadur Baniya. Since then, Baniya has been urging Lama to resign, claiming that most members of the Nepali Congress in the provincial assembly now support him.

However, Lama says he doesn’t have to resign just because he is no longer the party leader.

Lama became Chief Minister under Article 168 (2) of the Constitution, which allows a person to be appointed if no single party has a majority, as long as they have support from two or more parties.

Lama argues that the Constitution does not require the Chief Minister to be the leader of the largest party, so he can continue in his position even after losing the internal party election.