CPN-UML, the largest party in the erstwhile House of Representatives, has already declared Chairman KP Sharma Oli as its prime ministerial candidate. Oli is a star campaigner of the party, which has partnered with three other parties for the elections.

In the ruling alliance, however, there are at least five claimants for the post of prime minister. It seems, agreeing on who would be the next prime minister will be a challenge for the Nepali Congress-led alliance, if it is voted to power from the November 20 elections.

Some leaders say there is some kind of “understanding” between incumbent Prime Minister and Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba and CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal on holding the chief executive post on rotation.

There is also speculation that Deuba and Dahal have already reached a “gentleman’s agreement” on sharing the top post and on other major issues. However, two Congress leaders and a Maoist leader denied any “secret” deal between Deuba and Dahal. They, however, didn’t rule out a tacit understanding between them should the ruling alliance return to power after the elections.

However, there is an “understanding” between the Congress and the Maoists that they would lead the government in turns for five years, said Maoist Centre senior vice chairman Narayan Kaji Shrestha.

Shrestha said there is “no precise understanding or agreement between Dahal and Deuba as to who would become the prime minister first after the elections, but both leaders would split the premiership for the next five years.”

Of late, both leaders have cemented their personal rapport “due to various domestic and external reasons,” so it is unlikely that their relationship will break down, one Nepali Congress leader said.

He also said that “there would be maximum pressure on both leaders to remain in and retain the alliance after the elections.”

“Everyone is looking after election results, followed by who will align with whom after the elections. The formation of the new government will be a key issue after the election results are out. Even Maoist leaders have been saying that the present alliance will continue for another 20 years, which means, politically and morally, it is presumed that the unity between the ruling party leaders will continue after the elections. But the power-sharing deals like who will be the president, vice-president, prime minister, and speaker, will remain key contention points in the post-election negotiations among the parties,” said another Nepali Congress leader.

But, there is a queue inside Nepali Congress to be prime minister and the number of its aspirants is growing.

Top leaders of the leading parties are openly declaring their ambitions for prime ministership.

Spokesperson of the Nepali Congress, Prakash Sharan Mahat, has been repeatedly claiming that none other than Deuba, who is also the president of the Nepali Congress, would lead the next government after the elections.

CPN (Maoist Centre)’s Dahal, who is contesting the elections from Gorkha-2, has been claiming that he is almost certain to lead the next government. “Gorkha is likely to see me as the next prime minister of the country and Surendra Raj Pandey is likely to be the next chief minister of the Gandaki Province,” Dahal has been heard saying repeatedly during his election campaigns in Gorkha.

Pandey of Nepali Congress is contesting a provincial seat in Dahal’s constituency and he is also considered close to the prime minister, Deuba.

Three other Nepali Congress leaders—Ram Chandra Poudel, who is contesting from Tanahun, party general secretary Gagan Thapa, who is contesting from Kathmandu-4 and former vice president of the party, Prakash Man Singh, who is contesting for the federal assembly seat from Kathmandu-1—have also publicly expressed their intentions of becoming prime minister.

“To become prime minister, I have to win the election to be the party’s parliamentary leader,” Thapa said on Wednesday. “For this, I have to win the election from the constituency.”

Thapa also said that he will definitely contest the election for the party’s parliamentary leadership.

Baburam Bhattarai, a former prime minister and chairman of the Nepal Samajbadi Party, said that there is no “formal understanding” between Deuba and Dahal on who will be the prime minister immediately after the elections.

“We need to reach a power-sharing deal after the elections, but as of now, no formal understanding has been reached between Deuba and Dahal on who will be prime minister or president or vice president. This is a matter of arithmetic too, where the numbers play a big role. Once the election results are out, there will be some kind of power-sharing deal among the ruling parties,” Bhattatai told the Post over phone from Gorkha. Bhattarai is leading the election campaign of Dahal.

Some CPN-UML leaders, including Oli, are often found satirically asking who the prime ministerial candidate from the ruling alliance is and why the ruling party failed to declare the name of its next prime minister ahead of the elections.

“We are not like the UML, which is running a one-man show,” a Nepali Congress leader said. “We are democratic forces and we take decisions on the basis of democratic means and methods.”

Nepali Congress leaders say it is part of a strategy to declare Dahal and Deuba’s names as future prime ministers. “Otherwise, why would people vote for Dahal and Deuba,” said Min Bishwakarma, a Nepali Congress leader who is reportedly close to Deuba.

“We need to transfer votes to each other’s party…it was a strategy to float the names of Dahal and Deuba as future prime ministers, so that the vote transfer within the alliance be secure,” he added.

According to him, there is no gentleman's understanding between Deuba and Dahal or top leaders of the ruling parties on who will become prime minister, first and second. “It will happen on a rotational basis, after the elections. But the general understanding is that the largest party will lead the government during the first-half, while the second-largest party within the alliance will lead the government in the second half,” said Bishwakarma. “We hope Dahal would agree to this arrangement because he has to save his party and politics and that is possible only if he remains in the present coalition.”