Chairman Prachanda of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) (CPN-M) was sworn in as the first prime minister of the Federal Democratic Republic Nepal on Monday afternoon in Nepali capital Kathmandu.

Nepali President Ram Baran Yadav administered oath of office and secrecy to the newly elected Prime Minister at Shital Niwas, the Nepali president's official residence at around 15:40 local time (0955 GMT) on Monday.

After the oath taking, the President, Prime Minister and other state leaders received congratulations from ambassadors to Nepal.

Prachanda was elected prime minister on last Friday with support from two other allies, the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) (CPN-UML) and the Madhesi People's Rights Forum (MPRF), and most of the other smaller parties in the Constituent Assembly (CA). In the 594-member CA, Prachanda won 464 votes.

Prachanda, meaning "the fierce", is the party name of Pushpa Kamal Dahal of the single largest CA party, CPN-M.

On Dec. 11, 1954, Prachanda was born in Karski District, some 140 km west of Nepali capital Kathmandu. Later, he spent his school life in Chitwan district, some 85 km south of Kathmandu.

In 1970s, after receiving a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science (IAAS) in Chitwan, Prahanda once worked as a teacher for more than two years in a middle school and was also reportedly devoted to some rural development project in Jajarkot, some 325 km west of Kathmandu. At the same time, he started pursuing communism and joined a communist party.

In 1990, Prachanda became general secretary of Nepal Communist Party (Unity Center), which the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) was derived from. In the same year, late King Birendra lifted ban on political parties and ushered in constitutional monarchy. However, Prachanda remained underground.

In February, 1996, the CPN-M, under the leadership of Prachanda, launched the People's War, for a "people's new democratic republic ".

In April, 2006, with the support from Prachanda-led CPN-M, the Seven-Party Alliance called on strikes and street protests in capital Kathmandu, forced King Gyanendra to reinstate the parliament and ended his direct rule.

In June, 2006, after over decade civil war, Prachanda for the first time returned Kathmandu to meet for talks with Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala.

In November, 2006, the Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA) was signed between the Seven-Party Alliance government and CPN-M, ending the 11-year-long civil war. The party later joined the interim parliament and government in 2007.

In February, 2007, Prachanda offered his first public speech in capital Kathmandu.

The CPN-M emerged as the single largest party after the Constituent Assembly elections in April, 2008. With 20,499 votes, nearly twice as many as what his nearest rival bagged, Prachanda was elected from Kathmandu Constituency-10, and with 34,220 votes against nearest competitor's 6,029, he was elected from Rolpa Constituency-2, too.

On May 28, Nepal was declared a federal democratic republic at the first CA meeting.

On Aug. 15, Prachanda was elected the first prime minister of Republic of Nepal.