Kathmandu: Maoist leader Prachanda was on Friday elected the first Prime Minister of post-monarchy Nepal, getting a comfortable majority in the Constituent Assembly.
Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who uses the nom de guerre Prachanda, won 464 votes out of 577 votes cast in a special Constituent Assembly vote. He defeated Nepali Congress leader Sher Bahadur Deuba, a three-time former prime minister, who won just 113 votes.
Prachanda received the backing of another major Left party the CPN (UML) and the Terai-based Madhesi Rights People's Forum.
The election ended a four-month long logjam over forming a government during which mainstream parties were locked in a bitter power struggle. Prachanda's predecessor G P Koirala of Nepali Congress had resigned under pressure from the Maoists and was working in an interim capacity.
With Prachanda at helm, the Maoists are expected to get nine portfolios including the key ministries of Finance, Defence and Foreign Affairs, highly placed sources said.
The Maoists won the largest number of seats in assembly elections in April. A month later, the assembly abolished the Himalayan nation's centuries-old monarchy.
However, the former rebels did not receive a majority of seats and were unable to form a coalition government.
The Maoists abandoned their armed struggle in April 2006 to join a peace process that brought them into the political mainstream.
(With inputs from PTI and AP)
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