PM Deuba accepts newly appointed Industry Minister’s resignation

• Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Gajendra Bahadur Hamal resigns amid controversy

Kathmandu: Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has approved the resignation letter handed in by the newly-appointed Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Gajendra Bahadur Hamal. Hamal who took the oath of office and secrecy on October 8 resigned from the post on October 10. Prime Minister's parliamentary party private secretary Keshav Raj Joshi was quoted in several media outlets that Prime Minister Deuba had appealed to Hamal to resign from the post after the latter's appointment aroused controversy. Hamal handed in his papers after questions were raised about his appointment by lawyers and in news in different media. Moreover, several media outlets and civil society members accused Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JB Rana of lobbying Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba to appoint Hamal as a minister. Hamal has stated in his resignation letter that he has worked remaining active in various posts of the Nepali Congress for a long time and also worked as the party's Banke district president, and the Prime Minister had accordingly appointed him to the post of the minister on evaluation of this background. He has further stated that the news disseminated by various media and the lawyers had linked his appointment to unrelated topics in an unjustified manner. and he felt that such news have undervalued his long struggle for democracy, the rule of law and the principle of separation of power among the State agencies. Hamal said he resigned from the ministerial post as questions were raised over the topic of his appointment and so he thought that it would not be appropriate to remain in the post. Hamal has been associated with Nepali Congress and has been working actively for the past five decades. Hamal, who is not a member of the Parliament, could have served only for six months. The constitution stipulates that non-lawmaker can serve as a minister for six months only. READ ALSO:

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