Ram Chandra Paudel elected third President of Nepal

Nepali Congress Senior leader Ram Chandra Paudel has been elected as the third President of Nepal.

In a election held at the Federal Parliament on Thursday, Poudel defeated Subash Chandra Nembang of the CPN-UML.

Poudel, who was a common candidate of eight-party alliance that included NC and the CPN (Maoist Centre), was elected to the post of the country’s head of the state by securing a total of 33,802 votes.

Out of 52,628 votes by weightage, Paudel secured 33,802 votes while Nembang garnered 15,518 votes.

Of the 881 federal and provincial lawmakers eligible to vote, as many as 831 votes were cast in the presidential election.

The Federal Parliament has 79 weighted votes, and the Province Assembly 48.

The tenure of the outgoing president Bidya Devi Bhandari ends on March 12.

A former Speaker, Paudel has spent over a decade in jail. He has, till now, become a lawmaker six times, minister five times, and Speaker for one time.