The overthrow of the autocratic party-less panchayat system in Nepal in 1990 was an advance, but what followed was a completely degenerate form of parliamentary politics. In the background of these developments, the political path of a protracted armed struggle as the route to a "new democratic revolution" took shape and was launched by the Maoists in February 1996. This article traces the genesis and development of the "People's War" in Nepal, focusing on elements of continuity in the salient features of the strategy of the PW.
