Kathmandu, January 30

When Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli took one of his most controversial decisions to expand his cabinet, Agriculture Minister and Unified CPN-Maoist leader Haribol Gajurel had opposed the idea and had tendered his resignation to party chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal.

“I told Dahal that I would step down if the agriculture ministry was to be bifurcated. I opposed the decision as it could have created further controversy,” he told reporters today.

He further said that PM Oli took his decision negatively and thought United CPN-Maoist as a whole wanted to withdraw support to the government.

“Therefore, Chairman Dahal urged me to continue,” said Gajurel.

He claimed that bifurcation of his ministry had affected regular activities in the ministry for more than a month. Also the treasurer of the UCPN-M, Gajurel said Vice-Chairman Narayan Kaji Shrestha’s decision to take the responsibility of the coordinator of the party’s mechanism to look after the government had saved the party from a disaster.

Minister Gajurel also said it was a challenge for the party to correct the working style of its leaders as they have been habituated to working arbitrarily.