The first chief minister of Province 1 Sherdhan Rai had 11-member Cabinet size. Likewise, the short-time Cabinet headed by Bhim Prashad Acharya was of eight members. In addition, the incumbent Province Government led by Rajendra Rai is composed of 14 Cabinet members.
Total number of ministers so far stands at 33. However, Indra Angbo has been repeated in both Sherdhan Rai and Rajendra Rai Cabinets. Therefore, the exact faces to be ministers are 32.
Sherdhan Rai was sworn in as the first chief minister of Province 1 on 14 February 2018. The Rai Cabinet had three state ministers.
Likewise, the eight-member Cabinet of second chief minister Bhim Prashad Acharya had three state ministers.
The incumbent Rajendra Rai Cabinet is composed of 14 members including a lone state minister.
Professionals from different walks of lives from Province 1 have expressed their disappointment over the issue. “Yes, parliamentary politics is all about number game and adequate number in political coalition is required to form Cabinet,” said Sitaram Ghimire, a political analyst who has completed his Master’s Degree in Political Science from Tribhuvan University.
Ghimire added, ”However, the number of ministers must be small and adequate. One party-one minister could have been a great practice.” He said the partial blame for this ill practive goes to erstwhile Communist Party of Nepal which commanded two thirds majority before crumbling into three parties namely CPN-UML, CPN-Maoist Centre and CPN (United Socialist). ”Had the CPN stood as the single party, the Cabinet faces would have been fewer,” said Ghimire, ”In the previous two years, the Province 1 Government was just of four ministers.”