Newly appointed Madhesh Chief Minister Jitendra Sonal took the oath of office and secrecy on Thursday along with two ministers. Provincial Head Sumitra Bhandari administered the oath to all three at the provincial headquarters in Janakpurdham.

Mahesh Prasad Yadav, the provincial assembly party leader of the Janamat Party, and Kanish Patel, chief whip of the CPN (Unified Socialist), were sworn in as ministers without portfolio.

The chief minister is expected to expand his Cabinet after the Tihar festival.

As per the power-sharing agreement among the coalition partners, the Janata Samajbadi Party will lead four ministries, including finance, while the Janamat Party will oversee four ministries, including Physical Infrastructure Development. The Loktantrik Samajbadi Party, the CPN (Maoist Centre), and the CPN (Unified Socialist) will each get two ministries.

Loktantrik Samajbadi Party (LSP) provincial assembly member Sonal was appointed chief minister on Wednesday, a day after Satish Kumar Singh resigned as chief minister. His appointment, however, has drawn objections from the Nepali Congress and CPN-UML, which have claimed the process was unconstitutional.

They argue that Sonal should not have been appointed since two lawmakers had defected from the Janamat Party to form the Janaswaraj Party, reducing the strength of Sonal’s coalition.

Provincial Head Bhandari had given parties until 4 pm on Wednesday to stake claims for government formation. At 10 am, Sonal and leaders of the five supporting parties reached her office with a joint proposal.

Congress and UML leaders filed a separate claim soon after, led by Krishna Prasad Yadav of the Congress. Both claims reportedly bore the signature of Mahesh Prasad Yadav, leader of the Janamat Party. Provincial officials said Sonal was appointed after Mahesh Yadav submitted a formal letter confirming his support for the five-party alliance.

Even after the appointment, Congress and UML lawmakers shouted slogans and demanded that the Provincial Head revoke Sonal’s designation.

Earlier, the two parties had tried to reestablish their alliance with outgoing Chief Minister Singh, hoping to secure his support after the Janamat split. But Singh declined, saying he remained aligned with Sonal.