The newly-elected Chief Minister of Gandaki Province Surendra Raj Pandey and Chief Minister of Lumbini Province Dilli Bahadur Chaudhary took the oath of office and secrecy on Friday.

Gandaki Province Head Prithvi Subba Gurung administered the oath to Pandey amid a ceremony held at the residence of the Provincial Head. Sushila Simkhada of the CPN (Maoist Centre) and Nepali Congress’ Saraswati Aryal Tiwari were also sworn in as ministers.

Similarly, Chaudhary was sworn-in by Lumbini Province Head Amik Sherchan.

Earlier, chief minister Chadhary administered the oath to CPN (Maoist Centre)’s Dhan Bahadur Maskey, Santosh Kumar Pandey of the Loktantric Samajbadi Party, and Dharma Raj Chaudhary of the Nagarik Unmukti Party, as they assumed office as ministers in the provincial government.

The position of the chief minister had fallen vacant in the two provinces after the previous chief ministers failed to secure a vote of trust.

Pandey and Chaudhary were elected to the post on Thursday.

Leaders of the two provinces have claimed that federal coalition partners Congress and the CPN (Maoist Centre) have agreed to govern the two provinces by turns.