A day after the Speaker of the Gandaki provincial assembly declared that Chief Minister Khagaraj Adhikari secured the trust vote interpreting 30 as the majority in the 60-strong provincial assembly, Adhikari on Monday expanded his Cabinet.

CPN-UML provincial assembly leaders Sita Kumari Sundas and Bed Bahadur Gurung have been inducted to the Council of Ministers. Sundas has been appointed the minister for Social Development while Gurung has been appointed the minister for Energy, Water Resources and Drinking Water. Provincial head Dilliraj Bhatta administered oath of office and secrecy to the newly appointed ministers amid a function.

Sundas and Gurung had earlier served as financial affairs and agricultural ministers, respectively, during the first stint of the chief minister.

On Sunday, Speaker Krishna Prasad Dhital announced that the votes obtained by the chief minister constituted a majority based on the Supreme Court’s recent ruling. As the Speaker tabled the motion for a decision, a total of 30 members voted in favour of Chief Minister Adhikari. Then the Speaker claimed that the number was sufficient to prove the majority in the 60-member assembly.

According to Dhital’s interpretation, 30 out of the 59 votes cast meant the majority number. The Speaker’s decision has run into controversy for the lack of clarity on whether the Speaker is counted as an assembly member with a voting right. During the announcement, the Speaker also claimed that he holds the right to cast his vote in special situations.

In the Lumbini Province, Bhandari Lal Ahir on Monday resumed his role as Minister for Agriculture and Land Management, marking his return to the provincial ministry just 15 days after he resigned from the position.

On April 21, Ahir, then affiliated to the Janata Samajbadi Party Nepal, resigned citing disagreements with Chief Minister Jokh Bahadur Mahara. However, the resignation was not officially accepted by the chief minister.

The party had quit the government accusing the chief minister of not heeding an earlier agreement to allocate two ministerial berths.

Ahir was inducted into the Cabinet on April 7 and assigned the agriculture and land management portfolio on April 18.

Ahir, who was elected from Banke-2 (A), resumed the office after a faction led by the party’s federal council chair Ashok Rai applied to register a new party, Janata Samajbadi Party, at the Election Commission on Sunday. The Election Commission on Monday recognised the party.

The split follows a long-standing discontent in the party led by Upendra Yadav, who is deputy prime minister and minister for health and population in the federal government.

“I have taken charge as a minister from the newly formed party led by Ashok Rai,” said Minister Ahir. “In Banke alone, there are three lawmakers from our party and we all stand united.”