Prachanda’s Third Innings

Chairman of the CPN-Maoist Centre Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' has been appointed the Prime Minister of Nepal with the support 169 members of the House of Representatives (HoR). This is his third innings as the head of government.  Having elected as a member of HoR from Gorkha-2 in the elections held on November 20 this year, Prachanda had taken up his responsibilities as the PM in 2008 and 2016.

President Bidya Devi Bhandari appointed Prachanda as the new PM as per Article 76 (2) of the Constitution of Nepal, 2015 on Sunday evening. He was sworn in on Monday. Because no single political party has secured a clear majority in the Lower House of federal parliament, the President on December 18 had called on any two or more political parties to submit their claim for forming a coalition government. She had given them a deadline of seven days to do so. The Nepali Congress (NC) and CPN (Maoist Centre) and three other fringe parties had been in power since July 2021. 

These parties had formed an electoral alliance to contest the two-tier November 20 elections to the federal and provincial legislatures. Up until Sunday noon, the top leaders of these parties were attempting to give continuity to that coalition. But as the alliance partners failed to reach a power-sharing deal, the CPN-Maoist Centre left the coalition at the last moment to join forces with the CPN-UML and other parties in order to lead a new government. With this dramatic political development, the country is now going to have a seven-party coalition government. 

The new alliance includes CPN-UML (with 78 seats), CPN-Maoist Centre (32), Rastriya Swatantra Party (20) Rastriya Prajatantra Party (14), Janata Samajbadi Party (12) Janamat Party (six) and Nagarik Unmukti Party (four).  Three independent members of the HoR have also extended their support to Prachanda. With this fresh political circumstance, the NC, which has won 89 seats in the HoR, will have to play its role as the main opposition.  When the largest party in parliament remains in the opposition, it can carry out its duties responsibly by pointing out the faults and weaknesses of the government. No doubt, the opposition party’s constructive role will definitely help keep the government on track.  

Born to a family of Mukti Ram Dahal and Bhawani at Dhikurpokhari of Kaski district in 2011 BS, Prachanda received his early education at Dhikurpokhari. Later, the Dahal family migrated to Chitwan. Having tied his nuptial knot with Sita Poudel in 2026 BS, he had four children. Of them, a daughter and a son passed away several years ago. After having passed SLC from Narayani Bidya Mandir Secondary School of Chitwan in 2026 BS, he passed I.Sc. from Patan Multiple Campus. In 2033 BS, he obtained Bachelor’s Degree in Agriculture from Rampur Agriculture Campus, Chitwan. He is also an MPA graduate.

He had been politically active since his college days. After getting membership from the Pushpalal faction of the Communist Party of Nepal in 2028 BS, he formed a Marxist Study Group in 2031 BS. He stayed underground for 25 years from 2038 BS to 2063 BS. He also led the decade-long ‘People’s War’ before joining peaceful politics. 

The nation and the people have pinned much hope on the new government. It has to focus on reviving the COVID-battered national economy, creating jobs and building infrastructures and carrying out various development activities as the nation is going to graduate to a developing nation status by 2026. Similarly, the country will have to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.