Dr. Baburam Bhattarai, vice-chairman of UCPN-Maoist becomes the 35th prime Minister of the country and fourth of Republic Nepal. He is the fourth Prime Minister in last three years since the country has turned republic. In an prime ministerial election held this (Sunday) evening, Speaker Subas Chandra Nembang announced Dr. Baburam Bhattarai to have outpolled Nepali Congress (NC) Vice-president Ram Chandra Paudel by 105 votes to become the country’s new prime minister as per the constitutional provisions and the House regulations.
The country had been looking for a new Prime Minister as Jhalanath Khanal finally resigned last week nearly after 6 and half months of being on the post. The parliamentary voting took place after political parties failed to form a consensus government within the 10-day deadline issued by President Dr Ram Baran Yadav.
United Democratic Madhesi Front, the alliance of five Madhes-based parties and other fringe parties voted for Baburam Bhattarai, whereas CPN-UML, Rastriya Prajantantra Party and Rastriya Janashakti Party, cast their vote in Ram Chandra Paudel’s favor. Paudel, along with this defeat has lost PM election for 18 consecutive rounds in total.
Who is Baburam Bhattarai?
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Baburam Bhattarai was born on June 18, 1954, in Belbas, Khoplang VDC, Gorkha district in a low – middle class peasant family.
Battarai, who has a huge repute for his intellectual and political activism in Nepali politics, began formal education Amar Jyoti Janata Secondary School in Gorkha in 1963 and went on top the SLC examinations from the same school in 1970.
After this, he joined I.Sc. in Amrit Science Campus, Kathmandu and later went to India for further study under the Colombo Plan Scholarship. He completed his PhD degree from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, in 1986.
While in India, he came in contact with top political leaders of Nepal like B.P. Koirala, Tulsi Lal Amatya, Mohan Bikram Singh, Rishikesh Shah and plunged into democratic politics.
In 1981, Bhattarai became member of the Communist Party of Nepal. He returned to Nepal in 1986 and fully devoted himself to politics. During the anti-Panchayat people´s movement of 1990, Bhattarai was the Central Spokesperson of United National People´s Movement.
Since 1991, Bhattarai played an instrumental role in shaping the revolutionary path of communist movement in Nepal as a Politburo Member of CPN (Unity Centre) and later of CPN (Maoist).
In 2003, he led the Negotiating Team of CPN (Maoist) for peace dialogues. He is widely acknowledged as one of the architects of the Joint People´s Movement of 2006 and as a key negotiator of Comprehensive Peace Accord signed in November 2006.
In the first ever Constituent Assembly elections held in April 2008, he was elected from Gorkha constituency no. 2 and served as Finance Minister in the subsequently formed Maoist government led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal.
Currently he is one of three Vice-chairmen of UCPN (Maoist). He is married to Hisila Yami and has a daughter named Manusi.
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