Oath of three newly appointed ministers postponed indefinitely

By Smita Arjeel, Makawanpurgadhi, July 31: The oath ceremony of the newly appointed ministers of Bagmati Province has been postponed again. 

The oath ceremony, which was scheduled to take place at 1 PM today, has been postponed after Bagmati Province Chief Deepak Prasad Devkota left for Kathmandu early Thursday morning.

Issuing a notice Bagmati Province Chief's Office stated that Province Chief Devkota had left for Kathmandu this morning due to sudden health problems.

"The swearing-in ceremony of the newly appointed ministers of the Bagmati Provincial Government was scheduled for 1 PM on Thursday, and however, health disturbance of the provincial chief has led to a halt in the ceremony. He has left for Kathmandu. Therefore, it has been postponed until further notice," reads the notice. 

Earlier, on Wednesday, Bagmati Province Chief Minister Bahadur Singh Lama appointed three lawmakers from the province as ministers.

Lama has appointed Govinda Lamsal (Dhading), Maya Shrestha (Chitwan) and Geeta Gurung (Chitwan) as ministers.

He has assigned the responsibility of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Law to Lamsal, the Ministry of Cooperatives to Shrestha, and the Ministry of Youth and Sports to Gurung.

Chief Minister Lama, who was preparing to administer the oath to the newly appointed ministers tomorrow, postponed the swearing-in ceremony as suggested by the CPN-UML parliamentary party.

Chief Minister Lama backed down after ruling partner CPN-UML expressed the view that the cabinet should not be expanded in a sensitive situation.

However, Minister Lama postponed the oath-taking ceremony, which was postponed yesterday, to 1 PM  today.

 Lama was defeated in the election for the leader of the Nepali Congress parliamentary party held on Wednesday, while his rival Indra Bahadur Baniya was victorious.