Pushpa Kamal Dahal

Pushpa Kamal Dahal (; born Ghanashyam Dahal, 11 December 1954), alias Prachanda (, , meaning "fierce"), is a Nepalese politician currently serving as the Prime Minister of Nepal. He previously held the prime ministerial post from 2008 to 2009 as the first prime minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, and again from 2016 to 2017. Dahal was born in Lewade, Dhikur Pokhari, a VDC 20 KM north from Pokhara, and spent most of his childhood in Chitwan, where he received a diploma of science in agriculture from Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science (IAAS) in Rampur, Chitwan. He joined left-wing political parties after seeing severe poverty in his youth. In 1981, he joined the Communist Party of Nepal (Fourth Convention), and later became general secretary of the Communist Party of Nepal (Mashal) in 1989. This party later became the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist). Dahal was the leader of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) during the country's civil war and subsequent peace process and the 1st Nepalese constituent assembly. In the 2008 elections, CPN(M) emerged as the largest party, and Dahal became Prime Minister in August of that year. He resigned from the post on 4 May 2009, after his attempt to sack the then army chief, General Rookmangud Katawal, was opposed by then President Ram Baran Yadav. Dahal was sworn in as Prime Minister for the second time in 2016, as per an agreement to form a rotational government by Congress and CPN (Maoist Centre). He resigned from the post of Prime Minister on 24 May 2017. Following the 2022 Nepalese general election, with an alliance with political parties including CPN (UML), Rastriya Swatantra Party and Rastriya Prajatantra Party, Dahal was sworn in as Prime Minister once again in 2022. Early life 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. He later changed his name during a matriculation examination to Pushpa Kamal (meaning: Lotus Flower). At the age of eight, his family migrated to Terai, a fertile lowland region in southern Nepal, and settled in Chitwan District. In the 1950s, his father Muktiram moved to Indian state of Assam, where he worked as a firewood collector, and returned home in 1961. In 1971, Pushpa Kamal Dahal moved to Kathmandu for his studies, and was enrolled in Patan Multiple Campus for two years.