KATHMANDU: As two of his deputies staked a claim over the position of second man, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who is scheduled to embark on an official visit to China, failed to hold the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

DPM Kamal Thapa of Rastriya Prajantantra Party and DPM Bimalendra Nidhi of Nepali Congress both have been claiming to be next to the Prime Minister in the 45-person Cabinet, giving Dahal a hard time to choose the Acting Prime Minister.

A source at the PM's Secretariat hinted that the Prime Minister Dahal, who is caught between two fires, will use his personal discretion to designate one of the three DPMs -- Thapa, Nidhi and Krishna Bahadur Mahara -- the Acting Prime Minister before leaving Kathmandu for a week,  without holding the Cabinet meeting.

The source claimed that the visit does not need endorsement from the Cabinet as no bilateral agreements will be made with China during Dahal's visit.

Thapa was recently inducted to the Council of Ministers as third Deputy Prime Minister, while Nidhi leads the Nepali Congress in the coalition government since Dahal expanded his Cabinet in August.

Prime Minister Dahal held separate meetings with Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba and DPM Thapa in a bid to settle the dispute.

Reminding Dahal of the agreement that he forged with Deuba while building the Nepali Congress-Maoist alliance to topple the KP Sharma Oli-led government and forming the incumbent coalition, Nidhi has been threatening to quit the government if he is not considered numero uno among the DPMs. Some media reports claimed Dahal acknowledged Thapa as the seniormost DPM and was in a mood to designate him Acting PM. But the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers' official website shows Nidhi, Mahara and Thapa respectively in second, third and fourth position, nex

As per the agreement, Nepali Congress and CPN Maoist Centre had reportedly agreed to give senior-most DPM to another party in the coalition government that one between Deuba or Dahal would lead.

Nidhi has argued that he has borne the role of Acting Prime Minister in the past also and was next to the PM in the Cabinet though Mahara of CPN Maoist Centre was appointed DPM prior to him.

Thapa, on the other hand, expects the Prime Minister to return him a favour --with an acknowledgement as the second man -- for joining the Cabinet to ensure the Dahal-led coalition government a majority at the time Madhesi parties were on the verge of withdrawing their support.

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Council of Ministers

Portfolio

Prime Minister

1.

  Pushpa Kamal Dahal

Prime Minister

DPMs

2.

  Bimalendra Nidhi

Home Affairs

3.

  Krishna Bahadur Mahara

Finance

4.

  Kamal Thapa

Federal Affairs and Local Development

Ministers

5.

  Arjun Narsingh K.C.

Urban Development

6.

  Ramesh Lekhak

Physical Infrastructure and Transportation

7.

  Janardan Sharma

Energy

8.

  Prem Bahadur Singh

Science and Technology

9.

Dr. Prakash Sharan Mahat

Foreign Affairs

10.

  Bal Krishna Khand

Defense

11.

  Deepak Bohara

Supplies

12.

  Suryaman Gurung

Labor and Employment

13.

  Gauri Shankar Chaudhari

Agricultural Development

14.

  Daljit Shrepaili

Youth and Sports

15.

  Bikram Panday

Land Reform and Management

16.

  Jayadev Joshi

Population and Environment

17.

  Surendra Kumar Karki

Information and Communication

18.

  Dhaniram Paudel

Education

19.

  Ajaya Shankar Nayak

Law, Justice, & Parliamentary Affairs

20.

  Keshab Kumar Budhathoki

General Administration

21.

  Romi Gauchan Thakali

Commerce

22.

 Sitadevi Yadav

Peace and Reconstruction

23.

  Jeevan Bahadur Shahi

Water Supply and Sanitation

24.

  Deepak Giri

Irrigation

25.

  Nabindra Raj Joshi

Industry

26.

  Shankar Bhandari

Forest and Soil Conservation

27.

  Gagan Kumar Thapa

Health

28.

  Hridaya Ram Thani

Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation

29.

  Kumar Khadka

Women, Children and Social Welfare Development;

30.

  Dilnath Giri

Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation

 State Ministers

31.

  Shreprasad Jawegu

Livestock Development

32.

  Satya Narayan Bhagat

Energy

33.

 Radhika Tamang

Agricultural Development

34.

 Dhanamaya BK.(Khanal)

Education

35.

  Dirgha Raj Bhat

Forest and Soil Conservation

36.

  Sitaram Mahato

Physical Infrastructure and Transportation

37.

  Taraman Gurung

Health

38.

  Surendra Raj Acharya

Irrigation

39.

  Subarna Jwarachan

Commerce

40.

  Indra Bahadur Baniya

Home Affairs

41.

  Dilip Khawas Gachchhadar

Labour and Employment

42.

  Dipak Khadka

Water Supply and Sanitation

43.

  Kanchan Chandra Bade

Industry

44.

  Mithu Malla

Urban Development

45.

  Parsu Ram Tamang

Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation