CPN (Maoist Center) has become the single largest party in the National Assembly after five of its six candidates got elected on Thursday.
Maoist Center, which currently has 15 seats in the National Assembly, will now have 17 lawmakers in the Upper House once the term of newly elected members starts in March.
UML, that currently has 17 seats, has dropped to third from first with 10 seats despite it winning one seat on Thursday due to cross-voting in the ruling coalition.
Rukmini Koirala of UML secured 5,086 weighted votes to defeat Champa Devi Karki of CPN (Maoist Center) who received 4,992 weighted votes. Seventeen local level representatives and three provincial assembly members from the ruling coalition voted for Koirala.
NC, that currently has 10 seats, has become the second largest party in the National Assembly with 16.
There have been no changes in the number of seats of other parties. CPN (Unified Socialist), that earlier had eight seats, remain with eight after the election while Janata Samajwadi Party also will remain with three seats.
The ruling coalition fielded 10 Nepali Congress (NC) candidates, six from CPN (Maoist Center), two from CPN (Unified Socialist) and one from Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP) for the 19 National Assembly seats that will be vacant from March 4, 2024.
The term of Bimala Rai Paudel, who was nominated by the then president on recommendation of the then KP Sharma Oli government, is also set to expire on March 4. The coalition has already decided to replace Bimala Rai Paudel with Rastriya Janamorcha Vice-chair Durga Paudel.
Nine of the 20 members whose term is set to expire in March are from CPN-UML including Bimala Rai Paudel nominated by the president.
The National Assembly members whose term is set to expire also includes four from NC, three from CPN (Maoist Center), two from CPN (Unified Socialist), one from Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP) and independent lawmaker Khim Lal Devkota.
