Prachanda in Kathmandu on Friday. (AP)

Kathmandu, May 22: Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, alias Prachanda, today addressed lawmakers and blamed India for the fall of his eight-month-old coalition government.

During his hour-long address to the Constituent Assembly, Prachanda accused his coalition partners and Nepal Army chief General Rukmagat Katuwal for conspiring with India and overthrowing his democratically- elected government. The Prime Minister said New Delhi toppled his regime as it was upset with his government’s efforts to get closer to China.

Prachanda, who is caretaker Prime Minister, said President Ram Baran Yadav’s decision to reinstate Katuwal violated all constitutional norms. “My resignation was solely intended to challenge the regressive forces which were acting at the diktats of foreign elements. In fact my resignation was just a missile attack against anti-revolutionary forces,” he said.

Prachanda added that his government had failed in its efforts to redefine Nepal’s relations with India and China.

He claimed that his coalition partners, mainly the CPN (UML) and the Madhesi People’s Rights Forum, had backed his government’s decision to sack the army chief. “However, these two parties backtracked at the behest of certain foreign powers,” he said, hinting at India.

Prachanda’s address in parliament came after Nepal’s parties brokered a compromise formula with the Maoists who were disrupting Assembly proceedings for the last three weeks demanding action against Yadav. Following the address, the parliamentary secretariat announced the schedule for the new Prime Minister’s election.

The voting will start tomorrow at 3pm. Twenty-two parties have fielded CPN-UML leader Madhav Kumar Nepal as a candidate while the Maoists and CPN-United are likely to field their own candidates.