“Let us think in a new way. Let us identify a common platform for all communists and move forward without insulting one another.”

As admissions go, Nepal’s veteran communist leader Jhalanath Khanal could not have been more candid. It was a belated acknowledgement that Nepal’s dime a dozen communist parties have spent as much time undermining each other as they have in trying to spread their gospel.

A case in point is the rivalry between Maoist leader Prachanda (Pushpa Kamal Dahal) and KP Sharma Oli of the CPN (UML). Each have backstabbed the other in the past, the most recently in 2023 when Oli withdrew support for prime minister Prachanda and joined hands with ideological foe Sher Bahadur Deuba of the Nepali Congress.

But in Kathmandu on Wednesday, Prachanda was crowned king of the

See Full Page