The surprise exit paved the way for the Maoists' lastminute poll ally, the ruling communists, to sail to a victory with their chairman Jhalanath Khanal pipping his remaining two contenders, Ram Chandra Poudel of the Nepali Congress, and Bijay Kumar Gachhedar, who was backed by an alliance of regional parties from Terai plains of Nepal.
The election saw 61-year-old Khanal, a former information and communications minister, poll 368 votes, more than the simple majority needed.
Though Khanal's victory ends a seven-month vacuum, it will not be a bed of roses for him. If the Nepali Congress, the second largest party in Nepal after the Maoists, also refuses to join Khanal's government, the remaining four months will see fresh turbulence in Nepal.