Gandaki Governor Sita Paudel and Lumbini Governor Dharma Nath Yadav were removed from their posts on Tuesday and were replaced by Prithvi Man Gurung and Amik Sherchan, respectively.

Gandaki Governor Sita Paudel and Lumbini Governor Dharma Nath Yadav were removed from their posts today and were replaced by Prithvi Man Gurung and Amik Sherchan, respectively.

President Bidhya Devi Bhandari, on the recommendation of the Council of Ministers, removed Yadav and Paudel and replaced them with Sherchan and Gurung, according to a press release issued by the president's office.

Sherchan is a veteran communist leader who was associated with the CPN-Maoist Centre. He was the governor of Gandaki till May, but was removed by the KP Sharma Oli in May when Oli's relations with Dahal soured and the Supreme Court nullified the unification of the Nepal Communist Party (NCP), allowing both the CPN-UML and the CPN-MC to remain separate parties. The SC decision helped Oli, who was removed from general membership of the NCP by Dahal and Madhav Kumar Nepal, maintain majority in the UML.

Meanwhile, the government named economist Biswo Paudel as the vice-chairperson of the National Planning Commission, according to Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba's personal aide Bhanu Deuba. Paudel is a visiting associate professor at Kathmandu University School of Management. The government also named Ram Kumar Phuyal and Dil Bahadur Gurung as members of the NPC, according to Bhanu Deuba.

The government also appointed Lieutenant General Prabhu Ram Sharma as acting chief of army staff. Incumbent CoAS Purna Chandra Thapa is retiring on September 10 and is set to go on mandatory leave at least one month before his retirement.

Sharma is expected to be promoted to the post of army chief once Thapa retires.