Pushpa Kamal Dahal

Born Ghanashyam Dahal in 1954, he took the name Prachanda after poverty in his youth pulled him toward left-wing politics. He joined the Communist Party of Nepal (Fourth Convention) in 1981, rose to general secretary of the Communist Party of Nepal (Mashal) in 1989, and led the faction that became the CPN (Maoist) through the country's civil war and peace process. His party won the 2008 elections as the largest bloc, and he became prime minister that August - then resigned nine months later after the president blocked his attempt to sack the army chief. He returned in 2016 under a power-sharing deal with the Nepali Congress, resigned in 2017 to honour the rotation, and came back in December 2022 with a patchwork coalition. That third term lasted 19 months and three alliance shifts before he lost a confidence vote in July 2024. He now sits as Leader of the Opposition.