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Colgate University

Publication Date

Fall 2016

Program Name

Nepal: Development and Social Change

Abstract

Over the last decade, the Communist Party of NepalMaoists Center (CPNMaoist Center) has suffered from fragmentation. Currently led by Prime Minister and chairman Prachanda, tensions within the CPNMaoist Center have resulted in former CPNMaoist Center chairman Mohan Baidya splitting with the party in 2012, followed by former Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai in 2015. Prachanda, Baidya and Bhattarai, who are credited for igniting the Maoist People’s War (19962006), now lead three separate political factions within parliament. Standard explanations for the splits point to ideological differences as the basis of the splits, due to the CPNMaoist Center’s history of factionalism along ideological lines. This study investigates the conditions which led to the splits between Maoist War leaders Prachanda, Bhattarai and Baidya, examining the extent of which these splits are a product of ideological differences.

Disciplines

Asian Studies | Other Political Science | Political Science | Politics and Social Change

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