Janakpurdham: The newly-appointed Chief Minister of Madhesh Province, Jitendra Prasad Sonal, has taken the oath of office and secrecy. The ceremony was held at the Provincial Chief’s Office in Janakpurdham, where Sonal, a member of the Provincial Assembly from the Loktantrik Samajwadi Party (LSP) Nepal, was sworn in by Provincial Chief Sumitra Subedi Bhandari. Sonal delivered his oath in the Bhojpuri language.
According to National News Agency Nepal, two newly-appointed ministers of the Madhesh Province government also took the oath of office and secrecy during the same ceremony. Mahesh Prasad Yadav, leader of the parliamentary party of the Janamat Party, and Kanish Patel, Chief Whip of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Socialist), were sworn in as ministers without portfolio.
Province Chief Bhandari appointed Sonal as the Chief Minister on Wednesday evening, with the backing of 56 provincial assembly members from five parties, in line with Article 168, Subsection (2) of the Constitution of Nepal. The coalition government consists of the Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal (JSPN), Janamat Party, the CPN (Maoist Centre), and the CPN (Unified Socialist).