Bimala Ghimire elected as upper house vice-chair

Bimala Ghimire of the CPN-UML has been elected as the vice-chairperson of the National Assembly.

Ghimire got 39 votes while Bishnu Devi Pudasaini was limited to 16 votes.  

After Ghimire got the majority, National Assembly Chairman Narayan Prasad Dahal announced that she was elected as the vice-chairperson of the National Assembly.

As many as 55 lawmakers took part in the election process.

Pudasaini was proposed by Durga Gurung of the Nepali Congress while Ghimire was proposed by Bhagwati Neupane.

The post had been vacant after National Assembly Vice-Chair Urmila Aryal tendered her resignation on March 28.

After the formation of a new political equation under the leadership of the UML, an agreement was reached among UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli, CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Rastriya Swatantra Party President Rabi Lamichhane and Janata Samajbadi Party Chairman Upendra Yadav to give National Assembly chair to Maoist Center and vice-chair to UML.

As per the agreement, Narayan Prasad Dahal of the Maoist Center was elected as the National Assembly chair on March 12.

In the 59-member strong upper house, Maoist Center has 18 members, Congress 16, UML 10, CPN (Unified Socialist) eight, Janata Samajbadi Party three, Loktantrik Samajbadi Party one and Janamorcha has one lawmaker.  

Meanwhile, Narayan Prasad Dahal and Bamdev Gautam are the nominated members.