Things began to fall apart when his coalition partners disapproved Prachanda’s sacking of the then chief of Nepal’s army, Rookmangud Katawal. The events following Katawal’s ouster led to Prachanda’s unceremonious exit in 2009. Katawal was reinstated by the then president of Nepal, Ram Baran Yadav following organised pressure from non-Maoist parties. Prachanda saw, in this act, a conspiracy by external forces and their local “puppets”. He tried to remain true to his revolutionary image by asserting, “I choose to bow out rather than stick to the post by appeasing the external lord”. It was not difficult to understand who he was referring to as the “external lord”. Prachanda was in pursuit of his vision of a revolution that would succeed only when “hegemonic India” was defeated and the feudal institution of monarchy overthrown.’ Pushpa Kamal Dahal, alias Prachanda, will be returning as Nepal’s prime minister after 87 months. As a commander of the dedicated and ruthless guerrillas during the 10 years of insurgency that ended in early 2006, after the Maoists joined the peace process, Prachanda was a hero, almost a legend. He was a symbol of hope and efficiently managed affairs when he was first elected as Nepal’s prime minister. His party was the largest group in Nepal’s first constituent assembly cum parliament, but the Maoists lacked absolute majority.
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