Pushpa Kamal Dahal

He was born Ghanashyam Dahal on 11 December 1954 in Lewade, Dhikur Pokhari, a VDC 20 KM north from Pokhara, to Muktiram and Bhawani, a Brahmin Hindu family.[8][9] He later changed his name during a matriculation examination to Pushpa Kamal (meaning: Lotus Flower).[10][11][12] At the age of eight, his family migrated to Terai, a fertile lowland region in southern Nepal, and settled in Chitwan District.[9] In the 1950s, his father Muktiram moved to Indian state of Assam, where he worked as a firewood collector, and returned home in 1961.[9] In 1971, Pushpa Kamal Dahal moved to Kathmandu for his studies, and was enrolled in Patan Multiple Campus for two years.[9] He moved back to Chitwan and received a diploma of science in agriculture from Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science (IAAS) in Rampur, Chitwan.[13][14] After completing studies and failing to find jobs in bureaucracy, Dahal became a school teacher in a village, where he worked until 1979.[9]

Dahal became drawn to left-wing political parties after seeing severe poverty in his youth.[14] He joined the Communist Party of Nepal (Fourth Convention) in 1981.[15] He became general secretary of the Communist Party of Nepal (Mashal) in 1989, this party, later, became the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist).[16] Dahal was underground, even after the restoration of democracy in 1990.[16] Not yet widely known, he controlled the clandestine wing of the party, while Baburam Bhattarai represented the United People's Front in parliament.[16]

Dahal speaking at a rally in Pokhara.

On 4 February 1996, Baburam Bhattarai gave the government, led by Nepali Congress Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, a list of 40 demands, threatening civil war if they were not met.[17] The demands related to "nationalism, democracy, and livelihood" and included such line items as the "domination of foreign capital in Nepali industries, business and finance should be stopped", and "discriminatory treaties, including the 1950 Nepal-India Treaty, should be abrogated", and "land under the control of the feudal system should be confiscated and distributed to the landless and the homeless."[17][18] After that, and until 26 April 2006, Dahal directed the military efforts of the CPN (Maoist Centre) towards establishing areas of control, particularly in the mountainous regions and in western Nepal.[19] The 40 demands were whittled down to 24 in subsequent political negotiations.[19] In late 2004 or early 2005, relations between Dahal and Baburam Bhattarai soured.[20] This was reportedly due to disagreement on power-sharing inside the party. Bhattarai was unhappy with the consolidation of power under Dahal.[21] At one point, Dahal expelled Bhattarai from the party, though he was later reinstated.[21] They later reconciled at least some of their differences.[22][23] On 22 November 2005, Dahal and the Seven Party Alliance released a 'twelve-point agreement' that expressed areas of agreement between the CPN(M) and the parties that had won a large majority in the last parliamentary election in 1999.[24] Among other points, this document stated that the dictatorial monarchy of King Gyanendra was the chief impediment to progress in Nepal.[24] It claimed further that the Maoists were committed to human rights and press freedoms and a multi-party system of government.[24] It pledged self-criticism and the intention of the Maoists and the Seven Parties to not repeat past mistakes.[24]

On 26 April 2006, CPN (Maoist Centre) announced a ceasefire with a stated duration of 90 days.[25] The move followed weeks of massive protests—the April 2006 Nepalese general strike— in Kathmandu and elsewhere that had forced King Gyanendra to give up the personal dictatorship he had established on 1 February 2005, and restore the parliament that had been dissolved in May 2002.[25] A new government was then established by the Seven-Party Alliance. The parliament and the new government supported the ceasefire and started negotiations with the Maoists on the basis of the twelve-point agreement. The two sides agreed that a new constituent assembly would be elected to write a new constitution, and decide the fate of the monarchy. The Maoists wanted this process to end with Nepal becoming declared as a republic.[25]

In 1969 Pushpa Kamal Dahal married Sita Poudel (5 July 1954 – 12 July 2023)[41][42] when he was fifteen.[9] They have three daughters (including Renu Dahal) and a son.[9]

In keeping with Marxist ideology, Dahal is an atheist, having stopped practicing Hinduism in his teenage years.[43]

• Problems & Prospects of Revolution in Nepal: A Collection of Articles by Com. Prachanda and Other Leaders of the CPN (Maoist). Janadisha Publications.

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• Official website