Kathmandu: Nepal's embattled Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal resigned on Sunday, succumbing to intense pressure from the main opposition Nepali Congress and his key ally Maoists, throwing the country into a fresh political crisis.
"The Prime Minister has tendered his resignation and the president has asked him to serve as the caretaker after accepting the resignation," President Ram Baran Yadav's press advisor Rajendra Dahal said.
The process of electing a new Prime Minister will start on Monday, the president's office said.
Earlier, 61-year-old Khanal told the CPN-UML leaders at the party's Central Committee meeting that he would step down on Sunday.
"I will quit as per my commitment," said the prime minister before the conclusion of the CPN-UML Central Committee meet.
"I will submit my resignation today itself, and address the House tomorrow," he said.
CPN-UML leader Khanal, who was elected prime minster on February 3 after 17 rounds of polls in Parliament, had said earlier this month that he would resign if there was "no concrete" progress on the 2006 peace process.
Khanal's coalition is the shortest Communist government in the country. Khanal served for just over six months in power, making his government the shortest that has ruled the country in the last decade.
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