Jhala Nath Khanal

Jhala Nath Khanal is a Nepalese politician who was the 35th Prime Minister of Nepal from February 2011 to August 2011. He was previously the chairman of the CPN (UML) and Leader of the Constituent Assembly Parliamentary Party of the CPN.
Since 5 November 2025, he has been serving as the senior leader of the Nepali Communist Party, a new party formed through merger of eight different communist parties and splinter groups.

Life

Khanal was born in Sakhejung of Ilam District to a hill Brahmin family of the Khanal clan. His wife, Ravi Laxmi Chitrakar, suffered severe burns on September 9, 2025 during the 2025 Gen Z protests.

Khanal served for a time as Minister of Information and Communication in the 1997 coalition government under Surya Bahadur Thapa.
Khanal won the seat of the Ilam 1 constituency in the 2008 Constituent Assembly election. He led the CPN as General Secretary from 2008 to February 2009 and was elected Chairman of the CPN on February 16, 2009.

On 3 February 2011, after seven months of political gridlock in which no candidate could muster enough votes to be elected as Prime Minister, Jhala Nath Khanal was elected Prime Minister by the Constituent Assembly. Khanal received 368 votes in the 601-member parliament, while his nearest rivals, Ram Chandra Poudel of the Nepali Congress got 122 votes and Bijay Kumar Gachhedar of Madhesi Jana Adhikar Forum (Loktantrik) got 67 votes.
Nepal had no proper government since Madhav Kumar Nepal resigned in June 2010. Nepal ran interim government for nearly eight months. Sixteen rounds of voting in parliament since July were unable to produce a new Prime minister as no political party could muster a majority. However, on 3 February 2011 the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) withdrew its candidate, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, and backed Khanal. As a result, he became the third Prime Minister of Nepal since it became a federal democratic republic in 2008.
Khanal resigned on 29 August 2011 after nearly six months after the parties failed to agree on the constitution drafting and the peace process amidst a new political crisis. The extended duration of Constituent Assembly was to expire on 31 August 2011.
The Nepali Congress and the Madhesi parties had asked the Prime Minister to resign immediately after being unsuccessful in completing peace process and drafting a new constitution. Even the party leaders increased pressure on Mr. Khanal in order to prevent the party from notoriety.