KATHMANDU: The top leaders of three major parties of the ruling coalition convened at Prime Minister’s official residence in Baluwatar to discuss and reach an agreement on the distribution of ministries in the Bagmati province.

The Chief Minister, Shalikram Jamkattel, had been unable to expand the cabinet due to a lack of consensus among the parties regarding the allocation of ministries.

While the cabinet expansion got delayed, the top leaders of the ruling coalition party held discussions with provincial leaders in Baluwatar and successfully determined the allocation of ministries.

Present at the meeting were Prime Minister and CPN-Maoist Center Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’, Nepali Congress (NC) President Sher Bahadur Deuba, CPN Unified Socialist Chairman Madhav Kumar Nepal, Deputy Prime Minister and NC Vice President Purna Bahadur Khadka, Deputy Prime Minister and Maoist Center Senior Vice Chairman Narayan Kaji Shrestha, and former Chief Minister of Bagmati, Rajendra Pandey.

Krishna Prasad Sharma Khanal, the leader of the Bagmati Province Parliamentary Party of Unified Socialists, disclosed that out of the five available ministries, the NC will receive three ministries, while the Unified Socialists will be allotted two ministries.

Despite insisting on six ministries initially, NC has agreed to settle for five ministries. The Unified Socialists agreed to take two ministries.

At present, the 11-member cabinet consists of four ministers from Maoist Center and two ministers from NC. With the allocation of the five vacant ministries, NC will have three ministries, while the Unified Socialist will be given two ministries.

Although there is no provision for state ministers, the leaders decided to balance the power-sharing of some state ministries.