Chief Minister of Madhesh Province Saroj Kumar Yadav has inducted three more ministers and one minister of state from the CPN-UML in his Cabinet. The new ministers took oath of office and secrecy on Saturday.

With the change in the ruling coalition, the chief minister had appointed another UML lawmaker Saroj Kumar Yadav, from Mahottari, earlier on Monday. Yadav on Saturday reshuffled his Cabinet adding three ministers and one state minister from the same party.

Of those newly appointed ministers, Raj Kumar Lekhi has been assigned the portfolio of home affairs, communication and law while Shatrudhan Singh has been given the portfolio of health and population.

Another lawmaker Pramod Kumar Jaiswal, who was elected to the provincial assembly as an independent candidate from Parsa, joined the UML on Saturday before being appointed as the minister for education and culture. Keshav Rai has been appointed as the minister of state for health and population. Province Head Sumitra Subedi Bhandari administered oath to the new ministers.

After the changes in ruling coalition at the centre in the first week of this month, Chief Minister Yadav broke the alliance with Nepali Congress and joined hands with another major party the CPN-UML. On Friday, the Nepali Congress province assembly party decided to withdraw support to the Madhesh government.

The coalition government in Madhesh is led by the Janata Samajbadi Party while Nepali Congress, now the main opposition in the House of Representatives following the recent shift in political dynamics, currently leads the provincial governments in Koshi, Gandaki, Lumbini and Sudurpaschim provinces. Likewise, the CPN (Maoist Centre) is at the helm in Bagmati and Karnali provinces.

On March 18, Madhesh Province Chief Minister Saroj Kumar Yadav reshuffled his Cabinet, dismissing three Congress ministers and inducting a minister from the UML.

The 107-strong provincial assembly in Madhesh has 24 lawmakers from the UML; 22 from the Congress; 18 from the Janata Samajbadi Party; 13 from the Janamat Party; nine each from the Loktantrik Samajbadi Party, the Maoist Centre and the Unified Socialist; one each from the Nagarik Unmukti Party, Rastriya Prajatantra Party and Nepal Sanghiya Samajbadi Party, plus one independent member.

Assembly member Abhiram Sharma of the Loktantrik Samajbadi Party was suspended after the Mahottari District Court handed him a life term.

In Sudurpaschim, the Nepali Congress-led provincial government is planning to get a vote of confidence within a few days. Speaking at a programme organised in Dhangadhi on Saturday, provincial Physical Infrastructure Minister Prakash Deuba said Chief Minister Kamal Bahadur Shah will go for floor test soon after Holi festival, which falls on Sunday this year.

The Sudurpaschim government is now in minority after CPN (Maoist Centre) and CPN (Unified Socialist) withdrew their support following the changed political alliance in Kathmandu.

Chief Minister Shah expanded his Cabinet twice last week to save his position. He inducted five ministers from the Nagarik Unmukti Party, which was formed by Resham Lal Chaudhary, amid a dispute within the party. Chief Minister Shah’s ruling coalition relies on the Nagarik Unmukti Party, Rastriya Prajatantra Party and an independent member of the provincial assembly.

On March 17, the Nagarik Unmukti Party decided to support the provincial government. The provincial assembly party meeting of the Nagarik Unmukti Party decided to continue its support to the Shah-led government despite a change in the federal coalition. However, two of the party’s provincial assembly members are against the decision.

In the 53-member assembly, the Congress has 18 members. The incumbent government should secure the support of seven members from the Nagarik Unmukti Party, one of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party, one lawmaker and one independent lawmaker to get a vote of confidence.