Nepal PM Prachanda ends alliance with Nepali Congress, reshuffles cabinet

In a dramatic development, Nepal's Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' on Monday reshuffled the Cabinet after terminating a nearly 15-month partnership with the Nepali Congress due to major differences between the top leadership of the two parties.

Prachanda formed a new alliance with former premier KP Sharma Oli's party UML following which three ministers took the oath of office and secrecy on Monday afternoon.

Padam Giri from the CPN-UML, Hit Bahadur Tamang from CPN (Maoist Center) and Dol Prasad Aryal from Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) took the oath of office and secrecy during the oath-taking ceremony held at the President's Office, Sheetal Niwas. However, the newly appointed ministers have not been assigned portfolios.

The collective strength (142) of CPN-UML, Maoist, RSP and JSP is more than the minimum required no of 138 seats in the 275-member House.

The alliance between the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) led by Prachanda and the Sher Bahadur Deuba-led Nepali Congress was terminated as the growing differences between the two top leaders reached a climax, a CPN-Maoist Centre party leader said.

"As (the) Nepali Congress did not cooperate with the Prime Minister, we are forced to look for (a) new alliance, Ganesh Shah, Secretary of the CPN-Maoist, told PTI.

Prachanda became the prime minister for the third term with the support of the Nepali Congress on December 25, 2022.

After breaking the alliance with the Nepali Congress --the largest party in the House of Representatives-- Prachanda joined hands with the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified MarxistLeninist), led by Oli, who was regarded as Prachanda's top critic.

Last year, the CPN-UML withdrew its support to the Prachanda-led government following a rift over backing the main opposition party's candidate for the presidential poll.

The rift between the Maoist Centre and Nepali Congress grew after differences grew between Nepali Congress leader and Finance Minister Mahat and Prachanda over the issue of budget allocation to certain projects.

The rift grew as Nepali Congress President Deuba wanted the party's senior leader and newly elected lawmaker Krishna Sitaula to be made the Chairman of the National Assembly against Prachanda's plan to appoint his party's fellow to the key post.

Earlier Monday, Prachanda held a meeting with CPN-UML chairman Oli at the PM's residence Baluwatar. During the meeting, the two top leaders decided to form a new alliance and a new government under the leadership of Maoist chairman Prachanda.

"The two leaders discussed the formation of a new government, a future course of action and possible leftist alliance among others," according to sources close to Baluwatar.

Soon after the meeting, leaders of three political parties, including Prime Minister Prachanda, CPN-UML chairman Oli and Rastriya Swatantra Party's (RSP) Ravi Lamichhane met at Baluwatar and discussed the modality of the new alliance and the formation of the new government.

Nepali Congress emerged as the largest party in the House of Representatives during the November 2022 general election, securing 89 seats out of a total of 275.

The CPN-UML secured 78 seats, followed by the Maoist Centre, which got 32 seats.

The RSP, Rastriya Prajatantra Party, Janata Samajwadi Party and CPN-Unified Socialist won 20, 14, 12 and 10 seats respectively. A party must win the support of at least 138 members of the House of Representatives to form the government.

CPN-UML, the second largest party in Parliament, will be a major alliance for the Prachanda-led new government.