Sher Bahadur Debua Wins Confidence Vote As Nepal’s PM
INDIA has conveyed continued cooperation in socio-economic development to Nepal’s new Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba who has won a vote of confidence in the House of Representatives. Deuba, 75, President of the Nepali Congress, has secured 165 votes in the 275-member House after he was appointed PM of the Himalayan nation and was directed to seek the trust of the country’s elected parliament by the Supreme Court of Nepal. A total of 136 votes were required for Deuba to win the vote of confidence. Deuba was appointed as the prime minister of Nepal as per Article 76(5) of the Constitution on July 12 following Supreme Court’s intervention. Deuba took the oath of office and secrecy for a record fifth time on July 13, a day after a five-member Constitutional Bench reinstated the dissolved House of Representatives for the second time in five months. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has congratulated Deuba for winning the vote of confidence in Parliament. In a tweet, PM Modi said he looks forward to working with him to further enhance the unique partnership in all sectors, and strengthen deep-rooted people-to-people ties between India and Nepal. Deuba has thanked Prime Minister Modi for the congratulatory message. PM Modi said ‘’ 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’’. Incidentally, Debua began his political career as a student and was instrumental in founding Nepal’s Student Union affiliated to the Nepali Congress. From 1971 to 1980, he served as president of the student wing and from the 1960s and 1970s, Deuba was jailed intermittently for nine years for working against the Panchayat system. Deuba was an active campaigner during the 1990 revolution which dissolved the party less Panchayat system and ushered in the beginning of multiparty democracy. In the next year’s general elections, he was elected to the House of Representatives from Dadeldhura 1.He was Minister of Home Affairs in the cabinet led by Girija Prasad Koirala. After Koirala dissolved the parliament and his government was defeated in the 1994 mid-term elections, Deuba was elected parliamentary party leader of the Nepali Congress. Deuba says his government’s priority is to ensure Covid-19 vaccine supply and to keep friendly relations with all neighbouring countries. As a political analyst says, Sher Bahadur Debua’s confirmation as PM of Nepal by the country’s parliamentarians is a welcome development for India as the two countries share civilizational relations for centuries. It will be in India’s interest to refrain from getting involved in internal matters of Nepal recalling past mistakes. All differences between the two countries should be sorted out through dialogue. Picture courtesy to Reuters. Edited by PK Chakravarty
