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The hearing on a case related to Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane's citizenship has concluded. The Constitutional bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Hari Krishna Karki and Justices Bishwambhar Prasad Shrestha, Ishwar Prasad Khatiwada, Dr Ananda Mohan Bhattarai and Anil Kumar Sinha concluded the hearing today. It has not been determined whether the bench will give its verdict on the case today or on another day. The hearing on the case was postponed for today after it could not be concluded on Wednesday. Earlier, the court had sought the relevant documents from the Department of Immigration, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the District Administration Office. It has been reported that all the documents and details have been presented before the court. It may be noted that Advocates Rabiraj Basaula, Yubaraj Poudel and others had filed a writ petition at the apex court posing questions over the eligibility of Deputy Prime Minister Lamichhane, also the Chairman of the Rastriya Swatantra Party, as a member of Parliament. The writ petitioners have demanded cancellation of DPM Lamichhane's MP post arguing that he opened a political party and became a member of the House of Representatives without acquiring the Nepali citizenship.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli held a meeting in Baluwatar on Thursday. During the meeting, they discussed contemporary political issues. A Baluatar source said that the duo discussed election of President and Vice-President, expansion of Cabinet in provinces and by-election of National Assembly among others. Kumar Dasaudi and Madhav Prasad Achaya of the UML and the Nepali Congress have filed their candidacies for the by-election of National Assembly respectively.  

Newly appointed ministers of Bagmati Province took oath of office and secrecy on Wednesday. Province Chief Yadav Chanda Sharma administered the oath of office and secrecy to eight ministers. Ganga Narayan Shrestha has been appointed as the Minister for Internal Affairs and Law Minister, Kumari Moktan as the Minister for Social Development and Yuvaraj Dulal as the Minister for Physical Infrastructure. They were appointed as ministers from the CPN (Maoist Center). Similarly, from the CPN-UML, Keshav Prasad Pokharel has been appointed as the Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Development, Rameshwor Shrestha as the Health Minister and Ek Lal Shrestha as the Minister for Employment and Transport. Likewise, Uddhav Thapa, who was appointed as the minister from the Rastriya Prajatantra Party earlier, has been given the responsibility of the Ministry of Drinking Water, Energy and Irrigation. Dambar Tamang and Raju Bista of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party have been appointed as the Minister for Tourism and Cooperatives and Minister for Forest and Environment respectively. They will assume office today itself. With this, an 11-member Cabinet has been formed in Bagmati Province.

US Ambassador to Nepal Dean R. Thompson paid a courtesy call on Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Rabi Lamichhane on Tuesday. During the meeting held at the Home Ministry, the two exchanged views on further strengthening the bilateral relations and mutual cooperation, according to the Secretariat of the Home Minister. Matters relating to the US support to Nepal’s infrastructure development, increment of people’s access to education and health sectors, mitigation of climate change impact, energy development and technology handover and so on were also discussed on the occasion. US Embassy deputy chief of mission Jason P. Meeks and representatives, and officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Home Affairs were also present in the meeting.