Members of seven provincial assemblies sworn in

KATHMANDU: Members from the seven provincial assemblies were administered oath of office and secrecy at the respective temporary state headquarters of the seven provinces today.

All the 93 PA members of Province 1 were sworn in at provincial headquarters Biratnagar’s Birendra Sabhagriha.

Province 1 Governor Govind Subba administered the oath of office and secrecy to the senior-most PA member Om Prakash Sarawagi, 74, of the Nepali Congress. He, in turn, swore in 92 PA members.

The first meeting of Province 1 PA is set to be held at the meeting hall of Morang District Coordination Committee within a few days. Sarawagi will chair the meeting.

In Province 2, Governor Ratnesworlal Kayastha administered the oath of office to the senior-most PA member Lagan Lal Chaudhary, 75, at Sabha Kakshya of Janakpur chapter of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Chaudhary swore in 106 PA members.

CPN-Maoist Centre’s Jagat Yadav demanded that Chaudhari read out the oath in Maithili, but other members protested against the demand. Later, PA members read out their oath in the language of their convenience. Forty-seven PA members took the oath in Maithili, 25 in Bhojpuri, 24 in Nepali and 11 in Hindi.

Governor Kayastha scheduled the first meeting of the PA for February 4.

Province 3 Governor Anuradha Koirala swore in senior-most PA member Dormani Paudel, who  administered oath of office and secrecy to 109 PA members at the PA Secretariat in Hetauda.

Paudel will play the role of speaker at all PA meetings before a speaker is elected.

Province 4 Governor Baburam Kunwar swore in senior-most member of PA Janaklal Shrestha, who administered the oath of office and secrecy to 57 PA members at Pokhara Metropolitan Training Centre hall. PA member Ram Bahadur Gurung from Tanahun-2 was absent during the swearing-in ceremony and was administered the oath of office and secrecy later in the day time.

Rajib Gurung aka Dipak Manange, who was convicted and sentenced to five years in jail by the Supreme Court for attempt to murder, did not show up during the ceremony.

Province 5 Governor Umakant Jha administered the oath of office to the senior-most PA member Baldev Sharma Pokhrel at the hall of FNCCI’s Butwal chapter in Rupandehi. Pokhrel swore in 84 PA members, while two members were absent.

Province 6 Governor Durga Keshar Khanal swore in the senior-most member of the assembly, Him Bahadur Shahi, 68, at the hall of Surkhet District Coordination Committee in Birendranagar. Shahi administered the oath of office and secrecy to 39 PA members. Governor Khanal and 18 PA members could not come to Birendranagar yesterday due to bad weather and had to charter a helicopter to make it for the swearing-in ceremony this morning.

Province 7 Governor Mohanraj Malla swore in senior-most PA member Dibyeswori Shah at the meeting hall of District Coordination Committee, Kailali, in Dhangadi. Shah administered oath of office and secrecy to 51 PA members. PA members Bharat Khadka and Chun Kumari Chaudhari were absent. The oath taking ceremony was delayed by three hours due to late arrival of the governor.

(Updated with inputs from Pokhara, Surkhet and Dhangadi-based reporters)

PA members sworn-in, respective guvs of 7 provinces administer oath of office

KATHMANDU: Provincial Assembly members were sworn in today. The newly appointed governors administered oath of office to the Members of PA of all seven provinces.

The newly appointed governor of Province 1, Govinda Bahadur Tumbahang, administered the oath to Provincial Assembly members at the Biratnagar-based Birendra City hall at 10:00 am this morning.

Similarly, the Provincial Assembly members of Province 2 were sworn in at Janakpur Chamber of Commerce and Industry Hall by governor Ratneshwor Lal Kayastha today.

110 PA members of Provincial Assembly 3 were sworn in at 10:00 am today. They were administered oath of office  by PA 3 governor Anuradha Koirala at Hetauda Province Secretariat.

Likewise, Baburam Kuwar, governor of Province 4 administered oath of office to the Provincial Assembly members at 11:00 am this morning in Regional Administration Office Convention Hall, Pokhara.

In Province 5, 87 Provincial Assembly members were sworn in by the newly-appointed governor, Umakanta Jja today itself at the Butwal Chamber of Commerce and Industry Hall.

Meanwhile, elected Provincial Assembly members were sworn in by governor Durga Keshar Khanal at Surkhet District Coordination Committee Hall at 11:00 am this morning.

Mohan Raj Malla, governor of Province 7 administered the oath of office to Provincial Assembly members at the Kailali District Coordination Committee Hall.

Earlier, newly appointed governors of the seven provinces took oath of office and secrecy from President Bidhya Devi Bhandari at Shital Niwas on January 19 themselves.