Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has removed Deputy Prime Minister Ishwar Pokharel from the ministry of defense and appointed three of his confidants, including Vishnu Poudel, as ministers in other vacant ministries.

Prime Minister Oli has handed over the responsibility of the Finance Ministry to CPN (Maoist) General Secretary Poudel. Poudel was finance minister when Oli became prime minister for the first time. Similarly, Minister for Women, Children and Senior Citizens Parbat Gurung has been sent to the vacant Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. Gurung has given the responsibility of women's ministry to Lilanath Shrestha and the responsibility of urban development to Krishna Gopal Shrestha. Prime Minister Oli has retained the defense ministry that Pokhrel has been handling.

As per the decision of the CPN (Maoist) Standing Committee to reorganize the Council of Ministers on the advice and consensus of the party, there was no concrete agreement among the top leaders on its structure. Senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal has been sold saying that only people close to him have been appointed as ministers. He expressed dissatisfaction with the leaders close to him, saying that Oli had continued his past style of moving against the consensus. According to sources close to him, Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has also expressed dissatisfaction over the appointment of other ministers besides the Finance Minister. "It was agreed a few days ago about the finance minister but not about others now," said a leader close to Dahal.

Chairman Dahal has been in constant dialogue with Prime Minister Oli for over a year on the modalities of cabinet reshuffle. In that process, there was a discussion on the option of removing all the ministers except the Prime Minister, removing some of the good ones or removing all those who have completed their two-year term, but no agreement was reached. Therefore, Prime Minister Oli had proposed to Dahal to appoint a minister in the vacant ministry in case there is no immediate consensus.

During the meeting between the two presidents, Dahal said that the finance ministry was important and should not be left vacant for a long time. Dahal has agreed to appoint Poudel as the finance minister as the two leaders have close ties. On Wednesday, Dahal had walked with Oli saying, "If you like, appoint a finance minister, let's not do it now." Dahal is dissatisfied with Oli's style.

The UCPN (M) had been demanding that one of the two ministries vacated after Upendra Yadav's Samajwadi Party leave the government. Accordingly, there was a demand for a Maoist minister in one of the three vacant ministries. On the other hand, the Madhav Nepal group had demanded from Oli that Surendra Pandey should be made the finance minister if the agreement was to be followed. Similarly, the vacant ministry was also demanding a balance in the Council of Ministers by including those close to it, but on the contrary, the Nepali side is angry after Oli included only his confidants in the Council of Ministers. A year ago, Dahal and the Nepali side had objected to Oli appointing ambassadors only to people close to him and not even consulting them. Now, even after Oli made a single decision on the appointment of three ministers, the controversy of the CPN (Maoist) has flared up again.

Leaders close to Prime Minister Oli say some developments are linked to his decision alone. A few days ago, an alliance was formed between Dahal and the Nepal faction to weaken the Oli faction in Karnali. In order to thwart the no-confidence motion tabled by the Oli group, Dahal and the Nepali side decided to reorganize the provincial council of ministers, including the division of ministers.

Oli was dissatisfied with that episode. The Karnali leaders have been dragged to Kathmandu saying that they will hold a discussion on Thursday to break that alliance.

Meanwhile, Oli had proposed to have some good ministers and reorganize the cabinet by removing others, but Dahal-Nepal supporters took a stand to remove all as much as possible. Which was not to Oli's liking. After disagreements, Oli planned to appoint ministers in the three vacant ministries.

According to the same plan, Artha Poudel, Janardan Sharma of the UCPN (Maoist) in the media and Surendra Pandey in the Ministry of Urban Development tried to make him a minister but Sharma did not want to go into the media. Pandey also said at the outset that there was no minister other than finance, so there was no question of accepting the ministry of urban development. "When I met KPG, I had already told him not to take any responsibility other than money," Pandey said. "So no one talked to me directly about other ministries." Therefore, Oli on Wednesday appointed lawmakers who are completely loyal to him as ministers.

Why was Pokhrel removed from defense?

As soon as Oli became the Prime Minister, Ishwar Pokharel was the main character in his cabinet. Pokhrel, who worked closely with Oli from the then UML's ninth general convention

He wanted to enter the cabinet with a powerful ministry. So he initially wanted to go to the finance ministry. In the absence of that, he tried to go to the Ministry of Home Affairs and Foreign Affairs. Oli then announced the formation of a cabinet without a deputy prime minister. This put Pokhrel in a dilemma as he had been the Deputy Prime Minister in the past.

After the Prime Minister said that he would not appoint a Deputy Prime Minister, Pokharel demanded to take the responsibility of the Minister and move to a powerful ministry. Oli had at the same time offered Pokhrel to become a minister in the Prime Minister's Office and the Office of the Council of Ministers, which was not acceptable to Pokhrel. Therefore, he decided to become a minister in another separate ministry. Oli gave him the responsibility of the Ministry of Defense. Later, Oli decided to include Upendra Yadav in the government along with the Deputy Prime Minister. At that time, Pokhrel demanded that he be made the Deputy Prime Minister. Oli tried to make Yadav the Deputy Prime Minister but put him first. After receiving the needle, Pokhrel reached out to the President and expressed his dissatisfaction. After that, at the request of the President, Oli made Pokhrel the first priority Deputy Prime Minister.

Pokhrel became Oli's bodyguard after the siege of Oli by other leaders. That is why Oli gradually started giving important responsibilities to Pokhrel in the cabinet. When he had to go for a kidney transplant, he formed a high-level committee on corona control and prevention and appointed Pokhrel as its coordinator. After the formation of the high-level committee, Pokhrel brought all the structures under his control and tried to use the same structure to control the corona. A high-level committee took over the work of all the ministries including health, security and administration. At the same time, incidents of irregularities including purchase of health items became public, to which Pokhrel's name was also added.

Later, under his leadership, the Corona Crisis Management Center (CCMC) was formed. In the CCMC, there was a situation where ministers, including the army and police chiefs, were present and his instructions were followed. Other ministers are also angry with Pokhrel's working style. In particular, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Home Affairs continue to complain of interference in their work. Similarly, Pokhrel did not have good relations with the army. It was being made public that the Chief of Army Staff briefed the Prime Minister directly and questioned his working style. The army briefed the minister saying that he had unnecessarily interfered in projects related to the army and other minor administrative matters.

According to leaders close to the prime minister, the prime minister was dissatisfied with Pokhrel because he had quarreled with the army's core leadership. Chairman Dahal and other leaders had been dissatisfied with Pokhrel's working style. Even though he is not satisfied, Prime Minister Oli is not in a position to remove him. Because Pokhrel is in favor of Oli in the party secretariat. When people on one's own side get irritated, the balance of the party is lost. Therefore, Oli has given the responsibility of the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister of the Office of the Council of Ministers as a middle way so that the message of Pokhrel's removal is not spread.

Pokhrel and those close to him claim that the decision was made by consensus. They argue that the prime minister has given Pokhrel a special job to do. "Many bodies have been merged in the prime minister's office now. The prime minister has not been able to see them directly and they have not been able to do as much as they should. Therefore, a senior minister was needed to command all these tasks, 'said an adviser to the prime minister.' The deputy prime minister has been given a special responsibility to fulfill that role. '

At present, large bodies including revenue investigation, national investigation, investment board and asset laundering have been merged under the Prime Minister's Office. Similarly, the work of coordination with the state and chief ministers has to be done by the Prime Minister's Office. People close to Baluwatar have claimed that Pokhrel was taken away as the Prime Minister did not pay direct attention to the work of these bodies. "I have taken this special responsibility with my own consent. There is a special work to be done," Pokhrel told those close to him on Wednesday. In CPN (Maoist) circles, it is being remarked that Oli has made Pokhrel irresponsible in the name of giving him special responsibilities as he could not get him out directly.

Poudel is a minister for the fifth time, why finance? 

Prime Minister Oli is not stingy in giving responsibility to the person he likes. He did the same this time, making Vishnu Poudel the Finance Minister. Poudel has become a minister for the fifth time this time. Poudel, who had played the role of finance minister during his previous tenure, then became the party's general secretary. Now, Oli's confidant Yuvaraj Khatiwada's term has ended and Poudel has been brought back to that responsibility.

Poudel became the Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture for the first time in 2053 BS, then the Minister of Water Resources in 2065 BS, the Minister of Defense in 2067 BS and the Minister of Finance in 2072 BS. Now they have the responsibility of financing again. One of the reasons he was brought in as finance minister was because he was Oli's confidant. He doesn't turn left or right. From today's Kantipur Daily