KATHMANDU: CPN Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has been elected the new Prime Minister of Nepal. Speaker Onsari Gharti Magar announced that Dahal was elected the Prime Minister as he garnered more votes than 50 per cent of current strength of the Parliament. While total 573 lawmakers had cast their votes in the poll, 363 were for Dahal, according to Speaker Gharti. Dahal was backed by the largest party in the House, Nepali Congress, constituents of the United Democratic Madhesi Front and the Federal Alliance and some other fringe parties. Total 210 lawmakers including those of CPN-UML and Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal had cast votes against the Maoist leader. Though Dahal was the only contender for the top executive position of the nation, he had to go through the voting as the Constitution requires that the Prime Minister has to prove support of the majority lawmakers at the House. Total 298 votes were needed for Dahal to be elected the PM from the existing 595 members of the House. It would be the second stint of the Maoist leader as the Prime Minister as he had led the government after the first Constituent Assembly elections, from August 18, 2008  to May 25, 2009. He had resigned on May 4, 2009 after the then President Ram Baran Yadav turned down the Cabinet decision to remove the then army chief Rookmangud Katawal and ordered Katawal to stay put in the office. Before the election today, Dahal had addressed the House and said that he would try to lead the nation toward economic development while moving ahead with the spirit of national consensus during his premiership. READ ALSO:

• Dahal vows to lead Nepal to development in PM candidacy

Who is Pushpa Kamal Dahal? Born on December 11, 1954 in Dhikurpokhari VDC-2 of Kaski district, CPN Maoist Centre Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal had served as the Prime Minister of the nation for the first time for around nine months in from August 2008 to May 2009. Dahal, who later migrated to Shivanagar VDC in Bharatpur of Chitwan from his birthplace, tied the conjugal knot with Sita Paudel in 1969. He had worked as a teacher before joining politics. He was elected the central member of the CPN Masal in 1984 through the fifth General Convention of the party, politburo member in 1985, and the General Secretary in 1989. Dahal was elected the General Secretary of the CPN United Centre, which later changed into CPN Maoist, in 1991. He had led the Maoist party during the decade-long armed struggle from 1996 to 2006. In the first Constituent Assembly elections in 2008, he had won the parliamentarian berth for the first time from Kathmandu-10. He represents Siraha-5 in the second CA, which is now working as the Parliament after promulgation of the Constitution in September last year, since 2013 November.