KATHMANDU: Pushpa Kamal Dahal "Prachanda" was on Monday sworn in as the Prime Minister of Nepal for a third time, a day after the Ex-guerrilla leader dramatically walked out of the pre-election alliance led by the Nepali Congress and joined hands with opposition leader KP Sharma Oli.

After submitting a letter to President Bidya Devi Bhandari demonstrating the support of 169 members in the 275-member House of Representatives, the 68-year-old chairman of the CPN-Maoist Centre was appointed as the nation's new prime minister on Sunday.

President Bhandari administered the oath of office and confidentiality to Mr. Dahal during a formal ceremony at Shital Niwas.

Other coalition government cabinet members were also sworn in by President Bhandari. Three deputy prime ministers make up the new government: Rabi Lamichhane of the Rastriya Swatantra Party, Narayan Kaji Shrestha of the CPN-Maoist Center, and Bishnu Paudel of the CPN-UML of Oli (RSP).

 Paudel has been given the Finance Ministry,  Lamichhane the Home Ministry, and Mr. Shrestha the Physical Infrastructure and Transport Ministry.

All three members of Mr. Oli's CPN-UML, Jwala Kumari Sah, Damodar Bhandari, and Rajendra Kumar Rai, have been appointed ministers. Abdul Khan of the Janamat Party was also named as a minister.

Despite receiving a resounding majority for his appointment as prime minister,  Dahal will now need to prevail in a vote of confidence from the lower house within 30 days. If he fails to win the trust of the House, then a new process for government formation will begin.

Prachanda's unexpected election as prime minister may not be good news for India-Nepal relations as he and his biggest supporter, former prime minister  Oli, have had several run-ins with New Delhi in the past over territorial disputes.

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