Ram Chandra Poudel elected as Nepal’s 3rd President

Current Context: Ram Chandra Poudel of Nepali Congress was elected as the third president of Nepal on March 9, 2023He was the common candidate of an eight-party coalition that included Nepali Congress and the CPN (Maoist Center), which formed a government under Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda.

• He received 214 votes from parliament and 352 votes from provincial assemblies, defeating his rival Bidhya Devi Bhandari of CPN-UML who got 149 and 243 votes respectively.
• He is a veteran leader of Nepali Congress and has served as Deputy Prime Minister and Speaker of the House of Representatives in the past.
• He is also a well-known writer who has authored several novels and has won numerous literary honours.
• Poudel's victory was a relief to the fragile coalition government headed by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda as his rival Bidhya Devi Bhandari was backed by the main opposition CPN-UML. 
• It also mentions that Poudel is a senior leader of Nepali Congress and has been involved in politics since 1959.
• Cites Nepali Congress chief Sher Bahadur Deuba's tweet praising him. It also mentions that Poudel had the support of eight political parties, including Janata Samajwadi Party-Nepal (JSP-N) which had earlier decided to remain neutral.

Question:

Q.1 Which party did Ram Chandra Poudel belong to when he was elected as the president of Nepal in 2023?
a. Nepali Congress
b. CPN-UML
c. CPN (Maoist Center)
d. Janata Samajwadi Party-Nepal