February 25: Senior leader of the Nepali Congress Ram Chandra Poudel has filed his candidacy for the presidential election to be held on March 9.    
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and top leaders from various political parties reached the Federal Parliament building at New Baneshwar on Saturday to register Poudel's candidacy.  Backed by eight parties, Paudel is most likely to be elected as the new president with clear majority.  
Poudel has been proposed for the presidential candidate by NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba, CPN (Unified Socialist) Chairperson Madhav Kumar Nepal, CPN (Maoist Centre) Senior Vice-Chairperson Narayankaji Shrestha, Janata Samajwadi Party leader Ashok Kumar Rai and Abdul Khan of the Janamat Party.    
Likewise, supporters for Poudel's candidacy in the presidential bid are Chairperson of Lokatantrik Samajwadi Party Nepal, Mahantha Thakur; Vice-President of Nepali Congress, Purna Bahadur Khadka; Chairperson of Nagarik Unmukti Party, Ranjita Shrestha; Chairman of Rastriya Janamorcha, Chitra Bahadur KC; and Chief Whip of CPN (Maoist Centre), Hitraj Pandey.    
President hopeful Poudel was elected Member of the House of Representatives from Tanahu-1 in the November 20 election.    
Also, he was elected to the parliament from Tanahu in 2048 BS, 2051 BS, 2056 BS, 2064 BS and 2070 BS.    
Leader Poudel had already served as Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister for Home Affairs and led the Ministry of Local Development, Ministry of Agriculture, and the Ministry of Communications and Information in the past.    
He also served as the Speaker of the HoR. Born in 2001 BS at Bahunpokhara of Risti Rural Municipality in Tanahu district, Poudel forayed into politics at the age of 16.    
He is the founding member of the Nepal Student Union, which was established in 2027 BS and was elected to the central committee member of the party for the first time in 2034 BS.    
Similarly, leader Poudel became vice-president and acting president of the party. He was also awarded with the 'Order of the Rising Sun (2020)' presented by the government of Japan.    
He has written dozens of books and published seminal articles on contemporary issues. 

Eight political parties, including Nepali Congress – the largest party in the House of Representatives, CPN (Maoist Centre) and CPN (Unified Socialist) have decided to support Paudel’s bid to become a new president.    
An eight-party meeting held at the prime minister's official residence in Baluwatar on Friday evening took a decision to this effect, according to Prakash Jwala, a leader of the CPN (Unified Socialist).    
" Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal called the meeting of the eight parties including those out of the government. The only agenda discussed in the meeting was the president's election. In the meeting, PM Dahal proposed to support the Nepali Congress nominee for the president because it is the largest political party. We also agreed with PM Dahal's proposal," said Jwala.
Quoting PM Dahal in the meeting, leader Jwala said, "From today onward, a new political journey begins. Let's take it ahead; let's be united for the country's prosperity, national independence, sovereignty and people's livelihood. We can go together on power sharing as well."    
The eight parties attending the meeting were NC, Maoist Centre, CPN (Unified Socialist), Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP), Loktantrik Samajbadi Party, Janamat Party, Rastriya Janamorcha and Nagarik Unmukti Party.    
The meeting of the top leaders of NC, Maoist Centre, JSP and CPN (US) on Friday morning had agreed to restore the previous alliance- the alliance before that of November 20 election.    
Although the CPN UML had been insisting that UML nominee would be the president as per the agreement reached on December 25, PM Dahal was for forging national consensus for the presidential election. -- RSS