Bhesh Bahadur Poudel appointed as Minister of Forest and Environment in Gandaki

Pokhara, October 21 — Bhesh Bahadur Poudel of Lamjung has been appointed as the Minister of Foresta and Environment in Gandaki Province. This appointment follows the resignation of independent lawmaker Rajeev Gurung, also known as Deepak Manange. Chief Minister Surendra Raj Pandey has appointed Poudel to this position.

With this, the Gandaki government has been fully constituted. Poudel is associated with the non-establishment faction within the Congress party. Recently, he has been considered close to General Secretary Gagan Thapa, and his appointment as minister aligns with Thapa's influence.

Poudel is scheduled to take his oath of office today, with preparations set for 4:30 PM, according to sources. Manange resigned from his ministerial post after transitioning from the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure to the Ministry of Forests. Currently, there are nine ministries in Gandaki: four from Congress, four from UML, and one from the Nepal Samajwadi Party (NSP).

Following the new arrangement, a distribution of ministries was established, allocating five ministries to Congress, including the Chief Minister, and four to UML. Congress appointed a minister from NSP from its own quota, as the earlier allocation had to be adjusted to accommodate the increase from seven to nine ministries.