Province 2 cabinet to be reshuffled

The Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal (Upendra Yadav Group), the Nepali Congress and the CPN (Maoist Centre) have agreed to join hand in connection with reshuffling the government in Province no 2.

The agreement related to the participation of Nepali Congress and the CPN (Maoist Centre) in the province government comes after Chief Minister of the province Lal Babu Raut sacked four ministers from the JSPN (Mahanta Thakur Group). CM Raut belongs to the Upendra Yadav faction of the JSPN, which is on the verge of a split over the issue of supporting the KP Oli led government at the centre.

JSPN Chair Upendra Yadav who has come to Janakpur is busy in consultations with the Nepali Congress and the Maoist Centre for three days regarding the two parties' participation in the Province no 2 government.

A separate committee of the ruling JSPN comprising Minister for Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperatives, Shailendra Saha, Minister for Social Development Nawal Kishor Saha and Minister for Industry, Tourism, Forest and Environment, Ram Naresh Raya, is also active in talks with the NC and the Maoist Centre.

Although the JSPN, NC and Maoist Centre had held several rounds of talks, they could not agree on the allocation of ministry portfolios. But they agreed to work together for collaboration in government following the discussions on Tuesday evening.

As per the agreement, the Nepali Congress will get two ministries and the Maoist Centre will get two ministries in the provincial government. It is learnt that Chief Minister Raut is preparing to split some ministries after the parties could not agree on the allocation of ministry portfolios.

Currently, there are six ministries under the Province 2 government, including the Office of the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers. It is learnt that four ministries are being split to accommodate the NC and the Maoist Centre in the government. After this, the number of ministries will reach 10.

Province Assembly member from JSPN, Ramashis Yadav said the Ministry of Social Development would be split to make two new ministries, namely the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health.

Similarly, the Communications component would be removed from the Ministry of Internal affairs and Law, and a new Ministry of Communications would be formed.

Likewise, the Agriculture and Cooperatives component would be removed from the Ministry of Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperatives to form a separate ministry while the Ministry of Industry, Tourism, Forest and Environment would be split into the Ministry of Industry and Tourism and the Ministry of Forest and Environment.

It is said the parties will sign on a memorandum of understanding after finalising the allocation of ministry portfolios through a meeting of the government and the Nepali Congress task force. The new ministers will likely be appointed towards the evening after the signing of the agreement.

Ram Saroj Yadav will be leading the Nepali Congress and Bharat Saha will lead the Maoist Centre in the Province no 2 government, a source said.