Nepal CPN (Maoist Centre) leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal, ‘Prachanda’, today took oath of office as the new Prime Minister of the country at a special function held at the President’s residence in Kathmandu.
After his oath-taking ceremony, Prachanda administered oath of office to five ministers, including three from the Maoist outfit and two from the Nepali Congress. He was elected the 39th Prime Minister by Nepal’s Parliament yesterday.
This is Prachanda’s second innings as the Prime Minister. He was elected to the top political post in 2008 but resigned in April 2009 following a row over the sacking of the then army chief General Rookmungad Katawal.
Maoist leaders Krishna Bahadur Mahara, Daljit Shreepali and Gauri Shankar Chaudhary were sworn-in as Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Youth and Sports Minister and Agriculture Minister respectively.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday spoke to Prachanda to congratulate him and assured India’s full support. During the telephonic conversation, Mr. Modi also invited him to visit India.