Nepal PM Deuba thanks PM Modi for his wishes, says 'look forward to closely working'

Nepal's new Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Sunday thanked his Indian counterpart Prime Minister Narendra Modi for extending greetings on his successful tenure as the new PM of Nepal for the fifth time. ‘Thank you very much, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji for your congratulatory note,” the 75-year-old Nepali leader Deuba said.

He added, “I look forward to closely working with you to strengthen the relationship between our two countries [India and Nepal] and people.” 

Earlier on July 18, as  Deuba won the Nepal Parliament’s crucial confidence vote, Prime Minister Modi took to his official Twitter handle to extend best wishes, as he wrote, “Congratulations Prime Minister @DeubaSherbdr and best wishes for a successful tenure. I look forward to working with you to further enhance our unique partnership in all sectors, and strengthen our deep-rooted people-to-people ties.” The chief of Nepal’s Congress was appointed as the prime minister on July 13 as per Article 76(5) of the Constitution, following Supreme Court's intervention after former Nepali PM KP Sharma Oli’s ouster. Deuba, who needed 165 votes to win the vote on Sunday, secured 165 majority in the 275-member house. 

"I hereby declare that the motion of the vote of confidence tabled by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has been endorsed with a majority,” House Speaker Agni Sapkota announced.

Deuba served as the prime minister of Nepal on four occasions previously, from 1995 to 1997, 2001 to 2002, 2004 to 2005, and between 2017 to 2018. He took the oath of office and secrecy on Tuesday, last week, forming a small 5 member cabinet right after the swear-in ceremony. Nepali PM Deuba’s installation as the country’s leader came just a day after a five-member Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana reinstated the dissolved House of Representatives, which according to local press reports, was done for the second time in 5 months by the President Bidya Devi Bhandari on recommendation by Oli. The ousted PM had also announced the snap elections scheduled for November 12 and November 19. 

With the majority support of 149 lawmakers, Deuba had instated the claim to form a government, contested by President Bhandari. With the help of the Southeast Asian country’s apex court's intervention, Deuba was able to garner the support of CPN Maoist Centre and Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal lawmakers, including his own Nepali Congress Party, all of whom voted in favour of Deuba. Nepal’s newly sworn-in PM also drew support from Oli’s opposition CPN-UML party’s 8 lawmakers in the lower house. Oli’s faction comprises a total of 121 members. JSP which consists of 32 members also voted in favour of Deuba. During the last minute, the Thakur-Mahato faction of the JSP-N also swung in support.