Dahal was the leader of the CPN (M) during the country's civil war and subsequent peace process and the 1st Nepalese constituent assembly.

[6] He resigned from the post on 4 May 2009, after his attempt to sack the then army chief, Rookmangud Katawal, was opposed by then President Ram Baran Yadav.

[9] Dahal remained in power for 19 months, changing alliances between the UML and Congress three times, before he was ousted by a failed motion of confidence in the parliament on 12 July 2024.

[10] He was born Ghanashyam Dahal on 11 December 1954 in Lewade, Dhikur Pokhari, a VDC 20km north from Pokhara, to Muktiram and Bhawani, a Brahmin Hindu family.

[13][14][15] At the age of eight, his family migrated to the Terai, a fertile lowland region in southern Nepal, and settled in Chitwan District.

[12] In 1971, Pushpa Kamal Dahal moved to Kathmandu for his studies, and was enrolled in Patan Multiple Campus for two years.

[12] On 4 February 1996, Baburam Bhattarai gave the government, led by Nepali Congress Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, a list of 40 demands, threatening civil war if they were not met.

[17] The demands related to "nationalism, democracy, and livelihood" and included such line items as the "domination of foreign capital in Nepali industries, business and finance should be stopped", and "discriminatory treaties, including the 1950 Nepal-India Treaty, should be abrogated", and "land under the control of the feudal system should be confiscated and distributed to the landless and the homeless.

"[17][18] After that, and until 26 April 2006, Dahal directed the military efforts of the CPN (Maoist Centre) towards establishing areas of control, particularly in the mountainous regions and in western Nepal.

[24] Among other points, this document stated that the dictatorial monarchy of King Gyanendra was the chief impediment to progress in Nepal.

[25] The move followed weeks of massive protests—the April 2006 Nepalese general strike— in Kathmandu and elsewhere that had forced King Gyanendra to give up the personal dictatorship he had established on 1 February 2005, and restore the parliament that had been dissolved in May 2002.

[25] Dahal met for talks with Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala on 16 June 2006, which was thought to be his first visit to the capital Kathmandu in more than a decade.

He also won overwhelmingly in Rolpa constituency-2, receiving 34,230 votes against 6,029 for Shanta Kumar Oli of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), CPN(UML).