The luxurious new life of Pushpa Kamal Dahal is an antithesis of his younger days when he took up arms for the sake of the marginalised and downtrodden sections of society. As the leader of a bloody insurgency that claimed nearly 17,000 lives, Dahal has always had a legion of detractors. But when he first came out of the jungles to join mainstream politics, he also had a lot of public support, as was evident from the 220 seats his party won in the first Constituent Assembly election in 2008. The Maoist tally was double the number of the second-placed Nepali Congress, as the party got nearly 30 percent of all cast votes. By the time of the 2022 national elections, it had to be satisfied with 32 seats and just around 14 percent of the votes. The reason for this steady erosion in the party’s electoral support is clear enough. Primarily, it is a reflection of Dahal forgetting his roots. He is today no different to the ‘crony capitalists’ of the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML he once blamed for all the country’s woes. There is now not a ‘progressive’ bone in his body.

Yet following his ignominious exit as prime minister a month ago, Dahal has been in a hurry to put together a progressive alliance of socialist and left-learning forces. He is already in the four-party Socialist Front which, besides the Maoist Centre, also has as its members the CPN (Unified Socialist), the Nepal Socialist Party and the Communist Party of Nepal. The Maoist chief wants to further expand the collaboration between such like-minded forces. Moreover, his Maoist Centre party has announced a new nationwide campaign whereby it will go to people’s doorsteps to explain the party’s agendas and to get feedback. The feedback is likely to be angry. The party has long since abandoned its principled advocacy on behalf of women, Dalits, Janjatis and other marginalised communities—the groups that were its core voters. As things stand, on the right of the political centre in Nepal there is the Congress while the UML occupies the left of the centre. The people disenchanted with both these outfits are plumping for new forces like the Rastriya Swatantra Party and the Janamat Party. Where in this political spectrum does today’s toothless Maoist party fit, one wonders.

People won’t also be fooled by the formation of so-called leftist and socialist fronts. Dahal seems to remember his once core constituencies only when he is out of power. Disenchantment against him is growing, even within the Maoist Centre. After a long while, other party leaders are openly criticising his undisguised lust for power, most evident in his oscillation between the Congress and the UML just so he could occupy the prime minister’s chair. Some, like Narayan Kaji Shrestha and Janardan Sharma, have asked him to make way for a new leader. If Dahal is serious about reviving his party’s fortunes and leaving behind a credible legacy, he should be the one to make the biggest sacrifice. The options before him are limited. Gone are the days his gift of the gab alone could change people’s hearts and minds.