Lumbini Province Chief Minister Dilli Bahadur Chaudhary took oath of office and secrecy on Friday. Province Chief Amik Sherchan administered the oath of office and secrecy to Nepali Congress Parliamentary Party leader Chaudhary at the Butwal-based office of the Province Chief this afternoon. The chief minister appointed three ministers without portfolios today itself.

Dhan Bahadur Maski of the CPN (Maoist Center), Dharma Bahadur Chaudhary of the Nagarik Unmukti Party and Santosh Pandey of Democratic Socialist Party were appointed as the ministers.

Chaudhary had submitted a claim for the post of chief minister with the support of 53 lawmakers of the eight political parties. Province Chief Sherchan appointed Chaudhary as the chief minister as per Article 168 (2) of the Constitution. Sherchan had called on the parties to submit a claim for the chief ministership as per Article 168 (2) of the Constitution after Chief Minister Leela Giri failed to secure a vote of confidence during the floor test. In the 87-member Province Assembly, Nepali Congress has 27 lawmakers, CPN (Maoist Center) 11 and Nagarik Unmukti Party 4. Similarly, Janatmat Party, Janata Samajbadi Party and Democratic Socialist Party have three lawmakers each and Rastriya Janamorcha and CPN (Unified Socialist) Party have one lawmaker each.