Prachanda was born in Dhikur Pokhari, a village in Kaski District,[4] some 243 kilometres (151 mi) west of Nepal's capital Kathmandu.[5][6][7] Prachanda spent much of his childhood and youth in Chitwan District. He received a diploma of science in agriculture (ISc-Ag) from Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science (IAAS) in Rampur, Chitwan, and was once employed at a rural development project sponsored by USAID: the project site was Jajarkot.[8] Prachanda's brother, Dr. Ganga Ram Dahal, graduated from the University of Reading, UK and is currently a Research Scientist at 'Rights to Resources International' based in Bangkok.
Witnessing severe poverty among Nepalis since his youth, Prachanda was drawn to leftist political parties. He joined the underground Communist Party of Nepal (Fourth Convention) in 1981.[9] He became general secretary (party leader) of the Communist Party of Nepal (Mashal) in 1989. After several iterations, this party became the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist). Prachanda lived in secret, even after the restoration of democracy in 1990. A little-known figure until then, he controlled the clandestine wing of the party, while Baburam Bhattarai represented the United People's Front in parliament. A biography written by Anirban Roy, the ex-Nepal correspondent of the Hindustan Times, covers Prachanda's 25 years living underground[10] and has been translated into Nepali as Prachanda: Ek Agyat Bidhrohi. Anirban Roy's book is also getting translated into Hindi and Assamese. Since 1996 Prachanda has been internationally known as the leader of the CPN (M), presiding over its military and political wings.