One day after being chosen as the new prime minister by President Bidya Devi Bhandari, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, also known by the nom de guerre “Prachanda,” took the oath of office for the third time as Nepal’s new prime minister on Monday.
The Communist Party of Nepal’s (Maoist Centre) leader, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, was named prime minister on Sunday by the president. In a legislature with 275 members, he has claimed the backing of 170 lawmakers from six parties and four independents.
In the meantime, representatives of the ruling coalition claimed that the new administration, led by Prachanda, will strive to balance relations with China and India as the nation’s economy grows. Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli, former prime minister and UML leader, is believed to back China. Narayan Kaji Shrestha, a senior member of Prachanda’s Maoist Centre party, stated that “we’ll maintain relationships of equi-proximity with both our neighbours.” The position of deputy prime minister was handed to Shrestha.
Bishnu Prasad Paudel was given the crucial responsibility of finance minister along with six other ministers who were also designated in the prime minister’s cabinet. Rabi Lamichhane was appointed as the home (interior) minister. The prime minister kept the foreign ministry to himself.
The pre-election alliance of five parties, led by Sher Bahadur Deuba, president of the Nepali Congress and former prime minister, was dissolved by Prachanda. A few hours after the split, he partnered with rival K.P. Sharma Oli, the chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal—Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML), to form the central administration.
There was no apparent winner in the general elections that took place last month. The CPN-UML and CPN-MC have 78 and 32 seats, respectively, while the Nepali Congress has 89 seats, making it the only party with a majority.
According to a PTI report, Prachanda and Oli have agreed to lead the government on a rotational basis. The pro-monarchy Rastriya Swatantra Party, Janata Samajbadi Party, Janamat Party, and Nagarik Unmukti Party are among the numerous groups that support Prachanda.
The former Maoist rebel commander has been chosen to serve as Nepal’s prime minister three times. His first term in office was from 2008 to 2009; however, due to a political impasse over the distribution of power, he was forced to resign. He succeeded Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli as Prime Minister for the second time in 2016, taking office against the backdrop of the Madeshi agitators’ 2015–2016 economic blockade of Nepal.
Congratulating Mr. Dahal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his tweet,
On December 11, 1954, Dahal was born in Dhikur Pokhari of the Kaski district close to Pokhara. Dahal and his family relocated to the Chitwan region when he was 11 years old. Dahal completed his diploma from the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science in Rampur, district of Chitwan, in 1975. He took charge of the All Nepal National Free Students’ Union in 1980. (Revolutionary). The radical Communist Party of Nepal (Masal), or CPN, was associated with the union.
Dahal remained a part of CPN (Masal), even as it repeatedly broke into CPN (Masal) and CPN (Mashal). Dahal later rose to the position of general secretary of the CPN (Mashal). He was appointed general secretary of the CPN (Unity Center), a grouping of left-leaning parties that was formed in 1990. But in 1994, the party broke up once more. Dahal changed the name of his branch to the Communist Party of Nepal in 1995. (Maoist).
In 1996, the CPN (Maoist) began its insurgency against the monarchy of Nepal. On February 13, 1996, it attacked multiple police stations. Throughout the insurgency’s ten years, eight of which were spent in India, Dahal stayed in exile. His violent conflict, which lasted from 1996 to 2006, came to an end in November 2006 with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.
Dahal ended his ten-year armed struggle and entered mainstream politics. In the years 2008–2009, he initially assumed the office of prime minister of Nepal. After his party and the Nepali Congress party reached a power-sharing agreement in August 2016, he was re-elected by the Constituent Assembly. Dahal left his position in 2017 in compliance with the conditions of the contract. He was followed as prime minister by Sher Bahadur Deuba, head of the Nepali Congress.
