Nepal PM Prachanda expands cabinet with five more ministers

Kathmandu: Nepal's new Prime Minister Prachanda on Sunday expanded his cabinet by inducting five more ministers taking its strength to 14.

The newly-appointed ministers include Janardan Sharma, Minister for Energy, Hitraj Pandey, Minister for Local Development, Ram Karki, Minister for Information and Communication, Dhaniram Poudyal, Minister without portfolio and Ajaya Shanker Nayak, Minister for Law and Justice.

The new ministers, all from the CPN-Maoist Centre, took oath of office and secrecy from President Vidya Bhandari at a function at Rastrapati Bhawan.

This is the third time that the cabinet has been expanded With this the strength of the cabinet has reached 14.

Four ministers of state were also appointed by the prime minister.

In total the number of cabinet ministers and ministers of state has reached 18.