Kathmandu, Nov 20: Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda,’ a key leader of the Maoist People’s War, has abandoned the party’s guiding principle of Maoism and merged his party with the CPN Unified Socialist.

The merger agreement between the Maoists, Unified Socialist, and six other parties was signed on Kartik 16 at Parisdanda. On Kartik 19, a joint national assembly was held at Bhrikuti Mandap, where the Nepali Communist Party was officially announced.

Although the unification was said to include 12 leftist factions, in reality it was primarily between the Maoists and the Unified Socialist. However, the merger did not keep former Maoists and Unified Socialists united. From the Maoist side, Janardan Sharma rebelled and launched the Progressive National Campaign, while from the Unified Socialist, General Secretary Ghanshyam Bhusal has been leading a party restructuring effort.

Sharma had been involved in internal conflicts for two years, demanding leadership transfer and party reorganization. Expressing dissatisfaction with the merger, he accused the Maoists of abandoning their principles in favor of Madhav Nepal’s policies. On the day of the merger, Sharma told a press conference: “Chairman Prachanda left the Maoist party and surrendered to Madhav Nepal’s policies. We did not accept that and decided to carry out a progressive campaign with a new organizational structure.”

At a Secretariat meeting of the former Maoist party on Kartik 15 at Parisdanda, Sharma had submitted a written proposal calling for reconsideration of the merger, citing it as harmful to the party. However, his proposal was rejected due to minority support.

Has Prachanda really abandoned Maoism?

Former Maoist leader from Sudurpashchim, Khagaraj Bhatt, noted that Prachanda had already abandoned Maoism back in 2075 BS when merging with the UML. He argued that saying he abandoned it now is unjustified. Bhatt emphasized the need for serious review of whether the party’s principles and practices have truly followed Maoist ideology.

“Prachanda had already abandoned Maoism in his life and conduct. The key issue now is whether actions align with communist principles, which requires careful evaluation,” Bhatt said. He added that the communist movement has often failed worldwide when principles and actions diverged, and that following Marxism alone would not pose problems.