Nepali Congress party wins most seats in general election

The ruling Nepali Congress party has emerged as Nepal's single largest party after winning 89 seats in the 275-member parliament in a general election last month, and its leader, Sher Bahadur Deuba, looks set to stay on as prime minister.

A five-party alliance led by the Nepali Congress, which has been in power since July last year, won 136 seats, just two short for the 138 required for a majority, a tally of results from the Election Commission showed yesterday.

Party officials said leaders of the five-party alliance had sought the support of some new legislators and parties to reach the necessary majority.

Prakaksh Sharan Mahat, a spokesman for the Nepali Congress, said C.K. Raut, head of the newly formed Janamat Party, which won six seats, had met Deuba and pledged support for a new government.

Raut was not immediately available for comments.

"I have no doubt he will be the prime minister of the new government," Mahat said, referring to Deuba.

Deuba, 76, who is considered close to India, is in a better position to muster support for a majority, analysts said. The alliance led by his main rival, K.P. Sharma Oli of the Nepal Communist Unified Marxist Leninist Party (UML), won 92 seats.

Asian giants China and India jostle for influence in the Himalayan nation wedged between them. The Nepali Congress is seen as pro-India while the UML is considered closer to China.