Editor's Pick: ‘Prachanda’ becomes Nepal’s new PM after riveting political drama

On Sunday, Nepal President Bidhya Devi Bhandari appointed Pushpa Kamal Dahal, leader of the parliamentary party of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre), the Prime Minister of the Himalayan nation. Seven parties and three Independent MPs led by former Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli of the Communist Party of Nepal (UML) came together in a dramatic move for a post-poll alliance yesterday and wrote to the President proposing the name of Mr. Dahal, better known as ‘Prachanda’, as the prime ministerial candidate of the Left-dominant coalition. Mr. Prachanda and his CPN (Maoist Centre) have the support of 169 elected members in the Pratinidhi Sabha, the Lower House, representing the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist), the Rashtriya Swatantra Party (RSP), led by Ravi Lamichhane, the pro-monarchy Rashtriya Prajatantra Party, the Nagarik Unmukti Party, the Janata Samajwadi Party of Madhesi leader Upendra Yadav and the Janamat Party of former secessionist leader C.K. Raut. Sunday’s developments put an end to weeks of negotiations that began after the general election of November failed to produce a clear winner though the Nepali Congress emerged as the single largest party. This will be the third time that the former Maoist rebel leader will be the PM of the Himalayan nation. He served from 2008-09 when he had to step down because of a political crisis over sharing of power. His second stint came in 2016 when he took over from Mr. Oli against the backdrop of an economic blockade of Nepal during 2015-16 by the Madhesi agitators. Mr. Prachanda will be sworn in as the Prime Minister at 4 p.m. today. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Mr. Prachanda and said the unique relationship between India and Nepal is based on deep cultural connect and warm people-to-people ties. Officials said New Delhi will watch the development closely, given that the RSP has criticised India for building an embankment along the Mahakali river at Dharchula, which has led to protests by Nepalese on the other side. Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Head over to our newsletter subscription page to sign up for Editor‘s Pick and more. Click here. The Hindu’s Editorials A welcome move: On the free grains scheme under food security law Big money, short format: On the IPL auctions The Hindu’s Daily News Quiz The ‘Shantivan’ is a memorial dedicated to which one of these Indian figures? Rabindranath Tagore Jawaharlal Nehru Mahatma Gand Indira Gandhi To know the answer and to play the full quiz, click here. [logo] Editor's Pick 26 DECEMBER 2022 [The Hindu logo] In the Editor's Pick newsletter, The Hindu explains why a story was important enough to be carried on the front page of today's edition of our newspaper. [Arrow]( [Open in browser]( [Mail icon]( [More newsletters]( Dear reader, We have now made it easier for you to manage your The Hindu newsletter subscriptions in one place! 1. Visit [The Hindu newsletters page]( 2. Click MANAGE tab and then click LOGIN / SIGN UP 3. If you don’t have an account with The Hindu, please click SIGN UP OR If you already have an account with The Hindu with this email ID, please login using the email ID ‘Prachanda’ becomes Nepal’s new PM after riveting political drama On Sunday, Nepal President Bidhya Devi Bhandari appointed Pushpa Kamal Dahal, leader of the parliamentary party of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre),[the Prime Minister of the Himalayan nation](. Seven parties and three Independent MPs led by former Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli of the Communist Party of Nepal (UML) came together in a dramatic move for a post-poll alliance yesterday and wrote to the President proposing the name of [Mr. Dahal, better known as ‘Prachanda’]( as the prime ministerial candidate of the Left-dominant coalition. Mr. Prachanda and his CPN (Maoist Centre) have the support of 169 elected members in the Pratinidhi Sabha, the Lower House, representing the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist), the Rashtriya Swatantra Party (RSP), led by Ravi Lamichhane, the pro-monarchy Rashtriya Prajatantra Party, the Nagarik Unmukti Party, the Janata Samajwadi Party of Madhesi leader Upendra Yadav and the Janamat Party of former secessionist leader C.K. Raut. Sunday’s developments put an end to weeks of negotiations that began[after the general election of November failed to produce a clear winner]( though the Nepali Congress emerged as the single largest party. This will be the third time that the former Maoist rebel leader will be the PM of the Himalayan nation. He served from 2008-09 when he had to step down because of a political crisis over sharing of power. His second stint came in 2016 when he took over from Mr. Oli against the backdrop of an economic blockade of Nepal during 2015-16 by the Madhesi agitators. Mr. Prachanda will be sworn in as the Prime Minister at 4 p.m. today. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Mr. Prachanda and said the unique relationship between India and Nepal is based on deep cultural connect and warm people-to-people ties. Officials said New Delhi will watch the development closely, given that the RSP has criticised India for building an embankment along the Mahakali river at Dharchula, which has led to protests by Nepalese on the other side. Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Head over to our newsletter subscription page to sign up for Editor‘s Pick and more. 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