Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ became the Prime Minister of Nepal for the third time, appointed by President Bidya Devi Bhandari

The deadline given by President Bidya Bhandari to political parties to form a coalition government under Article 76(2) of the Constitution was expiring on Sunday evening.

Sources said Prachanda, along with other top leaders including CPN-UML president KP Sharma Oli, Rashtriya Swatantra Party (RSP) president Ravi Lamichhane, Rashtriya Prajatantra Party chief Rajendra Lingden, went to the Speaker’s office and staked claim to form the government.

An important meeting of CPN-UML, CPN-MC, Rashtriya Swatantra Party (RSP) and other smaller parties led by former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli was held here, in which all parties agreed to form the government under the leadership of ‘Prachanda’.

The proposal claimed the support of 165 members in the 275-member House of Representatives, including 78 from the CPN-U ML, 32 from the CPN-MC, 20 from the RSP, 14 from the RPP, 12 from the JSP, six from Janmat and the Citizens Unlimited party. consists of three members. Sources said the letter staking claim to form the government was signed by 165 MPs.

Pushpa Kamal Dahal submitted an application regarding her candidature as the next PM of Nepal

(Photos Source: Office of the President, Nepal) pic.twitter.com/EKwZZFaj7O

– ANI (@ANI) December 25, 2022

According to the source, a registration was done at the ‘Sheetal Niwas’ located in the President’s office to appoint 68-chakra ‘Prachanda’ as the new prime minister. He pointed out that only one proposal for the post of Prime Minister was filed with the President’s Office, so the President appointed Prachanda as the new Prime Minister. Prachanda has been appointed as the Prime Minister of Nepal for the third time.

On December 11, 1954, at Dhikurpokhari in Kaski district near Pokhara, Prachanda remained active for about 13 years. They joined mainstream politics when the CPN-Maoists abandoned the path of a decades-long armed insurgency and took the path of action politics. He led a decade-long armed conflict from 1996 to 2006 that finally ended with a comprehensive peace accord in November 2006.

Earlier, a meeting was held at Oli’s residence Balakot, in which apart from former Prime Minister Oli, leaders of Prachanda and other small parties agreed to form the government under the leadership of Prachanda. Prachanda and Oli have agreed to lead the government on rotation basis and Oli has agreed to make Prachanda the first prime minister.

CPN-U MLA Shankar Pokhrel after the meeting had asked for cancellation of membership, “Since the Nepali Congress as the single largest party under its leadership as per Article 76(2) of the Constitution within the time limit given by the President, There is a problem in forming the government, so now the legislators of CPN-U have taken the initiative to form a new government under the leadership of Prachanda with the support of 165 MPs.

Earlier this morning, Prachanda walked out of the five-party alliance after Prime Minister and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba and the CPN-MC failed to agree on a power-sharing arrangement, as Deuba defected in the first half of the five-fault task. Prachanda’s condition of becoming Prime Minister was rejected. Deuba and Prachanda had earlier reached a tacit understanding to head the new government by turns.

Maoist sources said that during talks with Prachanda on Sunday morning, the Nepali Congress (NC) staked claim for both the key posts of President and Prime Minister, which Prachanda rejected, resulting in talks.