In 2042 BS, he became a member of the Marxist Study Centre in Kaseni and started student politics from UML's student wing during his school days and became a member of the Central Secretariat in 2054 BS. Pokharal got membership of the party in 2047 BS, after completing his duties as a secretariat of the student wing. He is currently District Chairman of the party.
Pokharal was elected a member of the Constituent Assembly of 2070 BS. He got defeated by Congress’ Minendra Rijal in the 2074 BS polls and is now competing against Sujata Koirala.