The ruling CPN-UML has intensified its efforts to garner support for its candidate Bidhya Devi Bhandari for the presidential elections scheduled to take place on Wednesday.

Prime Minister and party chairman KP Oli met Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party Chairman Narayan Man Bijukchhe on Tuesday to seek their support. Following the talks, NMKP which had fielded Narayan Maharjan as their presidential candidate withdrew its nomination.

The UML is said to have instructed its party lawmakers to attend the Parliament session and vote for Bidhya. “The party has already issued a whip to all MPs to attend tomorrow’s session,” said UML whip Gokul Gharti.

Sixteen parties represented in the Parliament, including the UCPN (Maoist) and Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal which had voted for KP Oli during the prime ministerial elections, have stood together to elect Bidhya.

Bidhaya, wife of the charismatic communist leader Madan Bhandari, has been active in politics since her school days.

She, however, came to limelight after the untimely demise of her husband in a road accident. She was twice victorious from Kathmandu in the Parliamentary elections held in 1994 and 1999. Bidhya, however, lost during the 2008 Constituent Assembly (CA) poll. The party elected her under the proportional electoral system in the second CA elections in 2013.