PDF, 11th August 2016
On August 4, Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’, leader of the Communist Party of Nepal
(Maoist-Centre), was sworn in for the second time as Prime Minister of Nepal, becoming the
ninth Prime Minister in the country’s eight-year-long history as a republic and the only
communist leader to have managed to stage a political comeback. While this may be testimony
(गवाह )ं to his pragmatism (त या मक), others feel that Mr. Prachanda has engaged in too many
political flip-flops
Mr. Prachanda’s predecessor, K.P. Sharma Oli of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified
Marxist-Leninist), had come to power last October with Maoist support and has accused
( ितवाद )his successor of betraying him. To be fair, however, it was increasingly evident that
Mr. Oli was isolated and unable to deliver on the political and economic challenges facing the
country. Mr. Prachanda realised that continuing the coalition (सहिमलन) would not help his
party. In April, he had begun talks with Nepali Congress (NC) leader Sher Bahadur Deuba about
creating a new coalition, and on May 4 announced that the Maoists were withdrawing support
from the Oli government. However, within 24 hours, a patch-up had been effected with
CPN(UML) leader Bam Dev Gautam acting as the mediator.
A nine-point agreement was negotiated to address Maoist concerns but more significant was the
‘gentlemen’s agreement’ that following the budget presentation, due at the end of May, Prime
Minister Oli would step down and the CPN(UML) would support Mr. Prachanda as the next
Prime Minister. By the end of June, it was clear that Mr. Oli was in no mood to implement
(सामान) the ‘gentlemen’s agreement’.
He first prolonged (द घ) his tenure by suggesting that the deal was not about presenting the
budget but about getting it through the Assembly. Mr. Prachanda got wind of the fact that Mr.
Oli was also reaching out to the NC to get their support in the eventuality of the Maoists pulling
out. He realised he had to apologise to the NC for his embarrassing about-turn in May and
revived backchannel talks.
Like Mr. Prachanda, Mr. Deuba too saw the Oli government as dysfunctional and concluded that
there was no advantage in doing a deal with Mr. Oli. Normally, Mr. Deuba is not known to be a
forgiving person but the backchannel interlocutors (NC’s Bimalendra Nidhi and K.B. Mahara
from the Maoists) were able to keep the discussions on track and swing the deal this time around.
On July 12, Mr. Prachanda once again announced that he was withdrawing support from the Oli
government and followed through with the filing of a no-confidence motion against the
government the following day. Incidentally, Mr. Nidhi and Mr. Mahara were both sworn in as
Deputy Prime Ministers with key portfolios of Home and Finance, respectively, last week.
Many political observers feel that an NC-Maoist coalition will prove to be more stable than the
preceding ones. The fact is that it was under NC stalwart G.P. Koirala’s leadership that the peace
deal with the Maoists was concluded in 2005-06, which allowed them to come into democratic
electoral politics. However, problems arose shortly after the 2008 Constituent Assembly
elections in which the Maoists scored an unexpected victory. With 229 seats in an Assembly of
601, they were by far the largest party, followed by the NC and CPN(UML) with 115 and 108
seats, respectively.
In return for supporting the Maoist demand that the Constituent Assembly declare Nepal a
republic, thereby abolishing the 250-year-old monarchy (एकािधप य), G.P. Koirala expected to
be sworn in as the first President of the newly created Republic of Nepal with Maoist support.
However, Mr. Prachanda reneged ( यागना) on the deal; the Maoists put up their own candidate
who was eventually (आ खरकार) defeated when the NC’s Ram Baran Yadav was elected as the
first President. G.P. Koirala, who had wanted to be elected unopposed, instead took on the role
of Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly. As Mr. Prachanda now acknowledges, this was a
political error for G.P. Koirala then became a formidable ( वकट) opponent.
1. Testimony (N) –गवाह / माण


Synonyms – affidavit, evidence, testament
Antonyms – denial, veto, opposition
2. Pragmatism (adj.) –त या मक / यथात य


Synonyms – sensible, sober, logical, practical
Antonyms – excited, irrational, excited
3. Accused (adj.) – ितवाद / अपराधी ठहराया हु आ


Synonyms – indicted, liable, blamed, implicated
Antonyms – acquitted, clear, discharged
4. Coalition (N) –गुटबंद / सहिमलन


Synonyms – bloc, faction, ring, union, melding
Antonyms – parting, disconnection, separation
5. Implement (N) –उपकरण / सामान

Synonyms – appliance, gadget, device, apparatus
6. Prolonged (adj.) –द घ / ल बा

Synonyms – abiding, persistent, unceasing
7. Monarchy (N) –राज – तं / एकािधप य

Synonyms – Kingship, crown, sovereignty
8. Renege (V) –मुकरना / यागना

Synonyms – default, welsh, copout, reverse
9. Eventually (adj.) –अंततोग वा / आ खरकार


Synonyms – finally, yet, someday, at last, in future
Antonyms – never
10. Formidable (adj.) –दुजय / वकट


Synonyms – daunting, dire, fierce, dreadful
Antonyms – calm, trivial, poor, calm
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