Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ on Monday won a vote of confidence in Parliament, the fourth within 18 months of taking office.

Prachanda, 69, a former guerilla leader from the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) -- the third largest party in the House of Representatives (HoR) -- received 157 votes in the 275-member House of Representatives.

In total 158 lawmakers took part in the voting. The main Opposition Nepali Congress boycotted the voting process. One HoR member remained neutral.

The vote comes days after one of the coalition partners, Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP), withdrew its support last week for his government while quitting the coalition government.

This was the fourth time that Prachanda sought a vote of confidence in the House in less since he assumed prime ministership in December 2022.

According to constitutional provisions, a prime minister has to take a vote of confidence after an ally withdraws support to the ruling coalition.