 On November 8, 2002 Chaulagain resigned from CPN(UML).A few days after leaving CPN(UML), he was appointed by King Gyanendra as Minister for Labour and Transport Management as well as Minister for Population and Environment in the cabinet led by Lokendra Bahadur Chand.Chaulagain is the Chief Adviser of the National Integrated Study and Research Centre of Nepal, an organization that maintains links with North Korea.