Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' to be sworn in as Nepal PM today

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 25

In a sudden turn of events, election ally Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda) shortchanged Nepali Congress leader Sher Bhadaur Deuba and was nominated as the PM of Nepal on Sunday.

CPN-Maoist Centre chairman Prachanda broke away from the Nepali Congress-led five-party alliance and with the support of election rivals, the KP Oli-led CPN-UML and some smaller parties, went to the President’s office with a proposal to appoint him as the new PM. The wheel turned full circle since Prachanda and Oli were allies till the former broke away last year and backed Deuba for PM.

Prachanda (68) will be sworn in for the third time as PM on Monday, according to the Nepalese President’s office. The other parties that have backed Prachanda are Ravi Lamichhane-led Rastriya Swatantra Party, Rajendra Lingden-led Rastriya Prajatantra Party and some Madhesh-centric parties. The development went against South Block’s script, which was sanguine about pro-India Deuba being sworn in as PM even though the five-party alliance narrowly fell short of a majority. Deuba had soft-peddled issues of discord with India while Oli pointedly launched campaign from Dharchula where Nepal claims dispute with India. Meanwhile, PM Modi, in a tweet, congratulated Prachanda.

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