Nepali Congress wins 55 seats, starts consultation with other parties to form govt

The Nepali Congress, which has emerged as the single largest party in the parliamentary elections, on Thursday intensified consultations with other political parties in its bid to form the next government.

Senior Nepali Congress (NC) leader and former deputy prime minister Prakash Man Singh told PTI that the party has intensified consultations with various other political parties to form the next government.

The party will elect its Parliamentary Party leader after the results of all the seats are out and the seats to be allocated on the basis of the proportionate voting system is determined, he added.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister and NC president Sher Bahadur Deuba on Thursday met Janamat Party Chairman C K Raut at the PM's residence and discussed matters relating to forging cooperation in the days ahead, sources said.

Although the Janamat Party has won just one seat under direct election, the party will get one or two more seats in the Parliament under the proportionate voting method as it has crossed the threshold of being a national party.

NC Vice-president Purna Bahadur Khadka met CPN-Maoist Centre chairman Puspa Kamal Dahal "Prachanda" at the latter's residence at Khumaltar. The two are learnt to have discussed issues pertaining to formation of government, continuing with the present alliances and power sharing, according to sources.

The Nepali Congress (NC) has so far bagged 55 seats under direct election to the House of Representatives while opposition CPN-UML has won 44 seats. So far election results of 162 seats have been declared.

In the 275-member House of Representatives, 165 will be elected through direct voting, while the remaining 110 will be elected through a proportional electoral system.

A party needs at least 138 seats to form a majority government.

Half a dozen leaders within the NC have expressed their aspirations to become the next prime minister. Prakash Man Singh, 66, is among the leaders who are in the race to become the next prime minister.

Singh, who was elected as a member of the House of Representatives from Kathmandu 1, has been presenting himself as the next prime minister, saying that he has worked from the grassroots to the number two position in the party.

Singh, who is in favour of assuming the leadership role after winning the trust of NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba, met with UML Chairman K P Sharma Oli on Sunday.

The CPN-Maoist Centre has got 17 seats, CPN-Unified Socialist 10, Lokatantrik Samajwadi Party 4 and Rashtriya Janamorcha has bagged one seat under direct election.

The Rastriya Prajatantra Party and Janata Samajwadi Party, the two allies of the opposition UML, have bagged 7 seats each.

Rastriyia Swatantra Party and Nagarik Unmukti Party have won 7 and 3 seats respectively while Nepal Workers and Peasants Party has won one seat. The independent candidates have won 5 seats.

Meanwhile, the CPN-UML led by K P Sharma Oli has received the highest number of votes under the proportionate election method, that is, 27,69,523 followed by Nepali Congress which secured 26,39,619 votes.

Similarly, CPN-Maoist Centre has so far received 11,90,991 votes, followed by Rastriya Swatantra Party with 11,16,313 votes and Rastriya Prajatantra Party with 5,85,462 votes. Likewise, Janata Samajwadi Party and Janamat Party have received 4,20,926 and 3,84,299 votes respectively.

Although both Nepali Congress and CPN-UML are trying to gain support from smaller parties, chances of Oli-led party leading the next government is very slim, according to observers.

Elections to the House of Representatives (HoR) and seven provincial assemblies were held on November 20 to end the prolonged political instability that has plagued the Himalayan nation. The counting of votes started on Monday last.