The seventh round of PM election also failed to announce a winner. Although the participation of the lawmakers was higher than the last round, neither of the candidates was able to obtain a simple majority of 301 votes to form a new government.
UCPN (Maoist) candidate Pushpa Kamal Dahal obtained 252 votes in his favour, 12 votes up from the 240 he received in the sixth round. 521 lawmakers participated in the election. While 110 lawmakers voted against him, 153 chose to stay neutral.
A total of 515 lawmakers participated during the voting process for NC candidate Ram Chandra Poudel. He received 119 votes in his favour. 245 members voted against him and 151 opted for ‘no-vote’.
A meeting of the Madhesi Alliance in the morning had decided to vote in favour of the Maoists if their participation guaranteed them a win. But the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (MJF) did not participate in today's voting and MJF(D) was absent. Following their absence, the alliance chose to take a neutral stance in the election.
The eighth round is slated for 26 September.