Deputy General Secretary of the CPN (Maoist Centre), Janardhan Sharma, has challenged Chairperson Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s monopoly and continued leadership of the party. However, most members of the party’s Standing Committee have sided with Dahal, leaving Sharma politically isolated.
Sharma had hoped for internal support to break Dahal’s long-standing grip on the party. Instead, colleagues have urged him to issue a self-criticism for making internal matters public. His call for leadership change has now cost him his standing within the party. Like in the CPN-UML, senior Maoist leaders argue that Dahal should continue leading the party, citing his central role in the armed insurgency, the peace process, and the constitution-drafting effort.
Only a handful of leaders, such as Ram Karki and Parshuram Tamang, have echoed Sharma’s call for change. Both have proposed that Dahal assume a ceremonial role, transferring executive powers to the younger generation. Karki, in particular, has proposed a rotational leadership model, arguing that transitions in communist parties are often problematic. He cited historical examples, noting that even leaders like Lenin and Mao struggled with succession. Dahal, who has been at the party’s helm since the 1980s, shows no indication of stepping down.
“We should establish a leadership transition system while Chairperson Dahal is still healthy and active,” Karki said, emphasizing that his proposal does not seek to remove Dahal, but to place him in a respected role while others assume executive authority.
With party elections approaching, it is now almost certain that Dahal will be re-elected as chairman. Party leaders have warned against making statements that could undermine party unity. Dahal himself has accused "reactionary forces" of conspiring to divide the party since it entered mainstream politics in 2006. Earlier, he had challenged Sharma to leave the party if dissatisfied with his leadership.
A few weeks ago, Sharma made waves by saying that, with the exception of Manmohan Adhikari, all top communist leaders had accumulated significant wealth. At a party meeting, Sharma stated he was willing to self-criticize for his public remarks, on the condition that Dahal also take responsibility for the party’s collective failures.
He also proposed convening a special convention to elect new leadership. He accused Dahal of spreading rumors of a party split to suppress dissent. “We once had three million members. That has dropped to just one million. The leadership should self-criticize for that,” Sharma said. “If speaking about party reform violates policy, I’m ready to face the consequences.”
During the insurgency, leaders Mohan Baidya and Baburam Bhattarai had also challenged Dahal. Baidya left in 2012 to form a separate party, and Bhattarai followed in 2015 to establish a socialist party. Since then, Dahal has enjoyed a largely unchallenged monopoly. Narayan Kaji Shrestha briefly attempted to build a rival faction but lacked broad support, having joined the Maoist party only in 2009.
In recent years, Sharma has emerged as the most vocal challenger to Dahal’s leadership, but his efforts have so far been undermined by the lack of internal support. In response, Dahal has focused on unifying communist parties to consolidate his position. He is in talks with CPN (Unified Socialist) led by Madhav Kumar Nepal and has also reached out to smaller leftist groups.
Meanwhile, internal rivalries among second-rung leaders like Shrestha, Sharma, Agni Sapkota, and Barshaman Pun have only reinforced Dahal’s position, as none are willing to back each other as the next leader. They all seem more comfortable working under Dahal’s leadership.
At 70, Dahal has given no indication of retiring. The CPN-UML’s recent decision to remove the term limit for its top leader has created a favorable environment for Dahal to continue. As things stand, both KP Oli and Dahal are expected to remain at the top of their respective parties for at least another 5–10 years. In contrast, Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba is set to retire in 2027, as party rules bar him from seeking a third term.
