President Bidya Devi Bhandari on Friday appointed Sanghiya Samajbadi Forum Nepal (SSFN) Chairman Upendra Yadav as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health and Population and Mohammad Istiyaq Raya as the Minister for Urban Development.

President Bhandari appointed the duo as the ministers on the recommendation of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli as per article 76 (9) of the constitution.

PM Oli was taking the responsibility of both the ministries earlier.

Earlier, Yadav had held the post of Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the two times while Raya was the Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security.

Yadav and Raya were elected from Saptari-2 and Banke-2 respectively in the recently concluded elections.

SSFN had decided to join the government following a two-point agreement signed with the newly formed Nepal Communist Party (NCP).

With the latest expansion, the size of Oli-led Cabinet has reached 24.

PM Oli, who took the oath of office and secrecy on February 15, had expanded the Cabinet on February 26 and March 16 earlier.

The ministries of Health and Population and Urban Development were allocated for SSFN.

After SSFN joined the government, preparations are underway to give new responsibility to State Minister for Healh and Population Padma Aryal.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology Gokul Prasad Baskota has been promoted to minister.