Gandaki Chief Minister Surendra Raj Pandey has expanded the provincial Council of Ministers by inducting Nepal Samajbadi Party lawmaker Phanindra Devkota and independent candidate Rajiv Gurung, also known as Dipak Manange.

Gandaki Province Head Dilli Raj Bhatta administered the oath of office and secrecy to the newly appointed ministers on Tuesday.

Nepal Samajbadi Party lawmaker Devkota was sworn in as the minister for Energy, Water Resources and Drinking Water while Gurung has been assigned the portfolio of the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport Management. Both the assembly members had voted in favour of the trust vote tabled by Gandaki Chief Minister Pandey on Monday.

Devkota, who contested the 2022 election using the CPN (Maoist Centre) election symbol, crossed the floor, defying a whip issued by the party to vote against the trust motion, and voted in favour of Pandey.

Earlier, Bindukumar Thapa and Takraj Gurung of the Nepali Congress also took office as the minister for Social Development and Health, and the minister for Economic Affairs respectively. This is Gurung’s sixth stint as minister in the Gandaki Cabinet.

Pandey was sworn in on May 29 as per Article 168 (3) of the constitution after the Supreme Court declared the May 5 vote of confidence for Khagaraj Adhikari of the UML unconstitutional. The top court issued a mandamus order to appoint Pandey, the provincial parliamentary party leader of Nepali Congress, as the new chief minister within 48 hours. The Congress is the largest party in the 60-strong provincial assembly with 27 members.

The apex court had issued a mandamus order to appoint Pandey to the position as per the constitutional provision, which states that the province head shall appoint the parliamentary party leader of the party with the highest number of members in the provincial assembly as the chief minister if the chief minister, appointed with the support of two or more parties, fails to win a trust vote within 30 days.

Pandey had moved the court challenging the chief minister’s May 5 vote of confidence in the provincial assembly. He also petitioned the apex court to appoint him as chief minister.

It is Pandey’s second stint as chief minister. On April 27, 2023, Pandey was appointed chief minister of the province. He resigned a year later.