Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who led a revolutionary insurrection that claimed 13,000 lives over 10 years, was elected prime minister of Nepal last night, becoming the first Maoist to lead a democratic government.

The election of Mr Dahal, who used the nom de guerre Comrade Prachanda (the fierce one), follows four months of political wrangling as the Maoists struggled to garner sufficient support from other parties to form a government, and even gave up at one point after their rivals united to elect a president opposed by the party.