Another year and Nepal gets another PM

In a crucial meeting, K.P. Sharma Oli-led CPN-UML and other parties agreed on a common agenda under which Prachanda's name was put forward for prime ministership.

New Delhi, Dec 26: Nepal seems to have a revolving chair for Prime Ministers. The new Prime Minister who is going to hold the chair now is Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda'. He is supported by the Oli-led CPN-UML. The elections and the selection of Prime Ministers in Nepal has become a meme fest now. Since 2008, the small hill country has elected as many as 11 governments.

After remaining comparably stable under the Hindu king, Nepal has been in disarray lately, especially after the assassination of the King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev. Needless to say, Nepal has seen 32 governments since 1990.

Maoist Prachanda

Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the face of Maoism in Nepal, was born to a Brahmin family in Pokhara, Kaski. Prachanda was a name given to him by comrades in arms when he was leading the guerrilla army against the Nepalese kingdom. Interestingly, even Pushpa Kamal is not his original name. He was named Ghanashyam by his parents but he changed it when he was doing matriculation.

Prachanda was involved in the decade-long armed struggle where thousands died from both sides - Maoist guerrilla militia as well as Nepal army. However, he shunned the revolutionary path for electoral democracy and won the elections to become the Prime Minister of the landlocked country. It is the third time that Prachanda would adorn the high post.

Outcome of coalition politics

Over the several elections, Nepal voters do not seem to give a clear mandate to any party. Even though it is a small country, it has dozens of political parties that participate in the elections but don't seem to have a way out to form a stable government. The recently held elections also did not give clear mandate to any party and in consequence of that the parties were willing to form a coalition.

In a crucial meeting with K.P. Sharma Oli-led Opposition CPN-UML, a common agenda was agreed upon where CPN-Maoist Centre, Rashtriya Swatantra Party (RSP) and several other parties agreed to put Prachanda's name forward as Prime Minister. Their joint communication says that they are willing to support Prachanda for stability and progress of Nepal.

Prachanda's relationship with India

There has been a tremendous shift in how Prachanda sees India. During his days as the guerrilla army leader, he used to consider India as a regional bully and detested it a lot. However, there has been a remarkable change in the way he relates himself with India now. He as PM has visited India and asked for deeper relations beneficial for the two countries.