After the mass movement by the Congress and the United Left Front in 2046, demanding a multi-party system, intensified, the then King Birendra removed Marichman Singh Shrestha and appointed Lokendra Bahadur Chand as the Prime Minister as the 'last weapon to save' the Panchayat.

The movement intensified even more after Chand was appointed Prime Minister on 24 Chaitra 2046. After Chand's leadership could not contain the movement, the King was forced to lift the ban on the party on the night of 26 Chaitra. While Chand was leading discussions with the multi-party system at Pragya Bhavan Kamaladi, the bench car he was riding in was vandalized. If we recall that complicated time, Chand probably did not imagine that he would soon become the Prime Minister in a democracy. But the same power that fought to throw out the Panchayat system offered Chand the Prime Ministership.

 Chand became Prime Minister on Chaitra 27, 2053 with the support of the UML, the largest party in the parliament. The king appointed Chand as Prime Minister after submitting the signatures of 103 MPs, including the UML. Seven years after democracy was achieved after 30 years of struggle, the last Prime Minister of the Panchayat got the opportunity to lead the government again.

In fact, the power-sharing agreement between the UML, which became the largest party in the 2051 mid-term elections, and the RPP, which won 20 seats, made Chand the Prime Minister. Nepal Sadbhawana Party Chairman Gajendra Narayan Singh, who was a minister, withdrew his support for Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and sided with Chand.

Chand had the support of 103 MPs, including 90 from the UML, 10 from the RPP, 2 from the Sadbhawana Party, and 1 from the Nepal Workers and Peasants Party. The MPs from the RPP Chairman Surya Bahadur Thapa side did not sign. But after Chand was appointed Prime Minister, RPP Chairman Thapa responded that he would support the government.

This is how Chand became Prime Minister

The UML minority government formed in November 2051 was removed after nine months through a no-confidence motion because of 'ego'. The Congress had removed the then Prime Minister Manmohan Adhikari in collaboration with the RPP. In Bhadra 2052, Congress parliamentary party leader Sher Bahadur Deuba was appointed Prime Minister.

Angry at being removed, the UML had devised a strategy to topple the Deuba government even if it meant giving the RPP the Prime Minister. Under the same strategy, the UML had brought no-confidence motions against Deuba twice in a period of 18 months, saying that it was ready to make Chand the Prime Minister. Deuba had failed both the no-confidence motions even though he had adopted many 'unparliamentary measures'. But the government collapsed after two Congress MPs were absent against the motion Deuba put forward in Parliament to seek a vote of confidence.

Sadbhavana Party Chairman Gajendra Narayan Singh, who remained in the post of minister, withdrew his support to the government just as the voting in Parliament was about to begin. Even if two Sadbhavana MPs had voted with him, the Deuba government would not have fallen.

After Deuba was removed, 90 UML MPs had signed a letter to make Chand the Prime Minister as per the previous agreement. UML had put forward Chand to create a division within the RPP to topple the Deuba government. RPP Chairman Thapa was adamant that Deuba should be supported.

UML Chairman Manmohan and General Secretary Madhav Nepal, among others, were in favor of not making Chand the Prime Minister. But UML former deputy general secretary and standing committee member Bamdev Gautam, Sahana Pradhan, Radhakrishna Mainali, CP Mainali and other leaders were in favor of making Chand the prime minister and joining the UML government.

Eventually, the decision to make Chand the prime minister and join the government was recognized. Manmohan and Madhav were on the strategy of forming a minority government of the UML or getting support from the Congress. The Congress was lobbying in favor of forming a government under its own leadership. For that, Deuba was forced to resign and Girija Prasad Koirala was made the leader of the parliamentary party.

Accusations that the UML chose the path of regression

After Chand became the prime minister, the Congress was increasingly dissatisfied with the UML. The Congress accused the UML of choosing the risky path of regression. The Congress Central Committee meeting had decided to play a role in the opposition by accepting the leadership of a faction within the RPP and making Chand the Prime Minister.

The Congress had emphasized the need for a stable government, saying that the power and tendency seen in the UML and the RPP would not strengthen democracy. The Congress had concluded that the UML had undermined progressive political thinking. The Congress had estimated that the UML-RPP alliance would not last long. The Congress claimed that they (UML-RPP) would fall into the hole they had dug themselves.