News24 Tv Program POWER NEWS

After a woman Speaker of Parliament and a woman President, Nepal now has a former guerrilla commander as a Vice President.Nanda Kishor Pun, 49, became Nepal’s second Vice President by winning a vote in the parliament on Saturday. He succeeds Parmananda Jha and is the first Maoist to become Nepal’s deputy Head of the State. Early this week, Bidya Bhandari had created history by becoming Nepal’s first female President.Parliament Speaker Onsari Gharti Magar, herself a former Maoist guerrilla, announced Pun’s victory. He defeated the NC’s vice presidential candidate, Amiya Kumar Yadav, with 325 votes. Yadav secured only 212 votes. Despite being backed by the ruling coalition of UML, UCPN(M), RPP (N) and MJF (D), Pun’s victory was not a foregone conclusion. The UCPN (M) had supported UML Chair KP Oli and Vice Chair Bidya Bhandari to become Prime Minister and President respectively, and it was expecting the leading party of the ruling coalition to reciprocate. -