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TIMELINE: The rise of rebel leader Prachanda in Nepal
Nepal's political parties meet on Tuesday in a bid to form a new coalition, a day after Maoist Prime Minister Prachanda resigned and his party threatened street protests over a crisis sparked by the army chief's sacking.
Nepal's political parties meet on Tuesday in a bid to form a new coalition, a day after Maoist Prime Minister Prachanda resigned and his party threatened street protests over a crisis sparked by the army chief's sacking.
Here is timeline tracing Prachanda's rise to power:
1994- The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) is founded by Pushpa Kamal Dahal, known by his nom de guerre Prachanda, or fierce one..
Feb 1996- Maoists, opposed to the Himalayan country's constitutional monarchy, launch a "people's war" for a single-party communist republic.
1996-2000 - Low-intensity insurgency. Maoists target ill-trained and poorly armed police.
2001-2005 - Maoists attack army barracks and steal modern weapons and drag the army into a conflict that turns into a full-scale guerrilla war. They begin attacks on district capitals, army posts and intensify transport strikes, choking Kathmandu of essential goods such as fuel.
Feb 2005 - King Gyanendra takes absolute power, vowing to crush the Maoists.
Sept 2005 - Maoist rebels announce a unilateral ceasefire but the royalist government rejects it.
Nov 2005- Maoists join a loose alliance with the seven main political parties to end royal rule.
Jan 2006- Rebels end ceasefire.
Apr 2006 - Gyanendra gives up absolute power after widespread protests. Veteran politician Girija Prasad Koirala, sworn in as prime minister, invites rebels for talks.
June 2006 - New government agrees with Maoists to dissolve parliament and form interim parliament that includes rebels.
Nov 2006 - Prime Minister Koirala and rebel chief Prachanda sign a peace deal, ending a civil war that killed more than 13,000 people.
Jan 2007 - Parliament scraps old constitution and adopts new interim constitution. Maoists control 84 seats in the 329-member interim legislature.
Dec 2007 - The ruling alliance and the Maoists agree to abolish the monarchy after the elections.
April 2008 - Maoists emerge the biggest political party in constituent assembly after Nepal's first elections in nearly nine years.
May - The first meeting of the constituent assembly overwhelmingly votes to abolish the monarchy and gives the ousted King Gyanendra two weeks to leave the palace.
June - Gyanendra quits the palace.
July - Ram Baran Yadav is elected first president of the republic of Nepal.
August 15- Prachanda becomes prime minister.
May 3, 2009 - Prachanda sacks army chief general Rookmangud Katawal, accusing him of disobeying instructions not to hire new recruits and undermining the government's supremacy over the army.
May 4- Prachanda resigns from cabinet after President Yadav calls the sacking of Katawal unconstitutional and tells army chief to stay.
