Maoist Centre Picks Narayan Dahal as Candidate for National Assembly Chair

The CPN (Maoist Centre) has finalized its candidate for the position of National Assembly chair. Following an office-bearers meeting held on Sunday, the party decided to field Narayan Dahal for the coveted role. Dahal, who is the brother of the current Prime Minister, was previously nominated to the upper house in 2022 upon government recommendation.

The election for the upper House chair is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, with nominations set to be filed from 11 am to 1 pm on Monday, as per the election timetable. Notably, an eight-point agreement among the ruling alliance parties, including the CPN-UML, Janata Samajbadi Party, and CPN (Unified Socialist), dictates their support for the CPN (Maoist Centre) candidate in the Assembly chair elections.

The vacancy for the position arose after Ganesh Prasad Timilsina completed his term on March 3, creating an opportune moment for the selection of a new chair.

In a parallel development, the Congress Parliamentary Party has chosen Yuvaraj Sharma as its candidate for the National Assembly chair. Initially, the party had intended to nominate Krishna Prasad Sitaula for the role. Sitaula, who was elected a National Assembly member from Koshi Province, was slated to be the Congress’s candidate for the chairmanship.

However, this decision underwent a change following the dissolution of the Maoist-Congress alliance, with the CPN (Maoist Centre) nominating Narayan Dahal for the position instead. Congress leaders emphasized that Sitaula’s candidacy was contingent upon a prior understanding among coalition partners, including the Maoist Centre, regarding his role as the upper house chair.