KATHMANDU, March 9 – Nepal, after adopting the democratic republican system through the 2062/63 movements, held its first presidential elections on July 19, 2008. Ram Baran Yadav of the Nepalese Congress was elected as the first president of the country. The election was conducted through the then Constituent Assembly (CA), with 578 of the 594 eligible voters casting their ballots. Yadav won with 283 votes against his closest rival, Ram Raja Prasad Singh of the then UCPN (Maoist), who got 270 votes. A re-election was held on July 21, 2008, and Yadav won with a majority of 308 votes.
Bidya Devi Bhandari is currently serving as the second and current President of Nepal, with her second term beginning on March 13, 2018. She was first elected on October 28, 2015, polling 327 votes against her closest rival, Kul Bahadur. Gurung from Nepal. Congress. Bhandari was re-elected President on March 13, 2018, with a majority of 39,275 votes out of a total of 52,501 weighted votes. Her closest rival, Kumari Laxmi Rai of the Nepal Congress, received 11,730 votes.
Under the new constitution approved in BS 2072, the 334-member Federal Parliament (the House of Representatives and the National Assembly) and the 550-member Provincial Assembly are eligible voters for the presidential election. In voting, the Electoral College, made up of the members of the Federal Parliament and the Provincial Assemblies, votes. The president is elected by political consensus and, in case of lack of consensus, an election is held, with the candidate who obtains the majority of votes being elected. The leftist alliance, the UML and the CPN (Maoist Center), supported Bhandari during his second term.
