Bagmati: Indra Bahadur Baniya, the leader of the Nepali Congress parliamentary party in Bagmati Province, has officially taken the oath of office as the sixth Chief Minister of the province. He was administered the oath by Province Chief Deepak Prasad Devkota on Tuesday evening.

Baniya’s appointment was made under Article 168(2) of the Constitution, following the resignation of former Chief Minister Bahadur Singh Lama. As per the earlier power-sharing agreement between the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML, Baniya will now lead the provincial government.

Formation of Council of Ministers
Alongside Chief Minister Baniya, eight ministers also took the oath of office and secrecy. Among them, two are from the Nepali Congress — Shivaraj Adhikari and Krishna Kumar Tamang — while six are from the UML: Madhusudan Poudel, Jayaram Thapa, Bindu Shrestha, Dr. Dinesh Chandra Devkota, Kiran Thapa, and Bharat KC.

Following the agreement made by outgoing Chief Minister Lama with Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba, three ministers from the Congress who could not even take the oath previously were not reappointed to the new cabinet.

Who is Indra Bahadur Baniya?
Born in 2027 BS in Diyawati, then Harnamadi VDC-4 of Makawanpur, Baniya has long been active in democratic and student politics. He joined politics through the Nepal Students' Union (NSU) in 2044 BS, and steadily rose through the party’s youth wings.

In 2051 BS, he was elected as a general convention representative of the Nepali Congress.

He became District Joint Secretary of NSU in 2052 BS, District Secretary of Tarun Dal in 2055 BS, and District President of Tarun Dal in 2056 BS.

In 2058 BS, he became a member of the Nepali Congress Makawanpur district working committee, and in 2073 BS, he was elected district president.

His political rise continued as he was elected President of Nepali Congress Bagmati Province during the party’s provincial convention in 2078 BS.

Baniya was elected to the second Constituent Assembly in 2070 BS from Makawanpur-1 and has served as Minister of State for Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation, and later Minister of State for Home Affairs in 2074 BS. He also served as a provincial assembly member from Makawanpur-2(Kha) and became the parliamentary party leader of the Congress in the provincial assembly.

Although he lost the parliamentary party leadership election in 2079 BS to Bahadur Singh Lama, the position reopened after a no-confidence motion against Lama was passed. In the internal election held on July 14, Baniya secured 22 votes, defeating Lama, who received 14.

Baniya is also known outside politics as a successful construction entrepreneur and is regarded as a trusted figure in political, social, and economic circles.

With his appointment, Bagmati Province has now had six Chief Ministers: Dormani Poudel, Ashtalakshmi Shakya, Rajendra Pandey, Shalikram Jamkattel, Bahadur Singh Lama, and now Indra Bahadur Baniya.