Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Tuesday expended his Cabinet by inducing three state ministers from Nepal Loktantrik Forum (NLF) on Tuesday.

PM Dahal administered the oath of office and secrecy to Yashoda Kumari Lama as Minister of State for Land Reforms and Sumitra Tharuni as Minister of State for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation at his office in Singha Durbar, Kathmandu today. However, Minister of State for Federal Affairs and Local Development Janakraj Chaudhary didn’t show up for the swearing in as he is out of Capital.

Earlier, PM had inducted three ministers from NLF including its Chairman Bijay Kumar Gachhadar as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Federal Affairs and Local Development, Jitendra Dev as Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation and Gopal Dahit as Minister for Land Reforms and Management.

The ministerial posts were lying vacant after Rastriya Prajatantra Party decided to pull out of the Dahal led government accusing the major coalition partners—Nepali Congress and CPN (Maoist Centre)—of not consulting the party while registering an impeachment motion against Chief Justice Sushila Karki.

However, the RPP leaders were lobbying hard to rejoin the government but NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba had refused to accommodate them in their previous positions after RPP forged electoral alliance with main opposition party CPN-UML.

Yashoda Kumari Lama was the leader of the Dalit Janajati Party before her party merged with NLF while both Chaudhary and Tharuni were from Gachhadar's party. 

Among the six ministers inducted in two days, none of the two lawmakers—Shiva Lal Thapa and Seema BK—were selected for the ministerial portfolio.

NLF leaders have claimed that NC President Deuba has promised them to continue in his Cabinet as well after PM Dahal hands over the helm to Deuba following the first phase of local level polls.