The rise and fall of Nepal strongman KP Sharma Oli

Tough-talking Nepali leader Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli spent decades in communist politics and served as prime minister four times before he was ousted in 2025 by deadly youth protests.

He was arrested on Saturday morning, one day after the country's new prime minister took office, following the defeat of the 74-year-old's bid for a political comeback in elections earlier this month.

Oli, leader of the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML), painted the polls during campaigning as a "competition between those who burn the country and those who build it".


Also read: Nepal's ex-PM KP Sharma Oli arrested over alleged role in protest crackdown

He suffered a decisive defeat.

Oli was detained by police after a government-backed commission recommended his prosecution for his alleged role in September violence that killed at least 77 people.

He has previously denied responsiblity or that he ordered the police to open fire.

'No effort'

The protests were triggered by the Oli government's brief ban on social media, but were driven by widespread frustration over economic stagnation and entrenched corruption.

He quit as premier as mobs torched his house, parliament and government offices.

In his resignation letter, Oli said he hoped stepping down would help "move towards a political solution and the resolution of the problems".

In January, he gave a statement to a commission established by the interim government to investigate the deadly crackdown on the youth-led uprising.

Oli has denied he had told the police to open fire on protesters.

"I did not give any orders to shoot," he said, in an audio statement posted on his social media accounts in January.

Instead, he has blamed "infiltrators" or "anarchic forces" for igniting violence -- without giving further details.

"The children were led to such a point where the law itself orders shooting," he added.

The commission report said Oli had held responsiblity as the government's head.

The commission report said that it was "not established that there was an order to shoot", but said that "no effort was made to stop or control the firing".

Authoritarian streak

Political journalist Binu Subedi said Oli had an authoritarian streak, and considered his word as "final", rarely accepting criticism or suggestions.

Often known by his first initials "KP", Oli spent years cultivating a cult-like image, with life-size cutouts and banners of "KP Ba (father), we love you" at rallies.

Oli's political career stretches nearly six decades, a period that saw a decade-long civil war and Nepal's 2008 abolition of its monarchy.

Drawn into underground communist politics as a teenager, he was 21 when arrested in 1973 for campaigning to overthrow the king.

"I was sentenced to harsh imprisonment for 14 years, with four years of solitary confinement", he wrote in a book of selected speeches.

He studied and wrote poetry in detention, penning his verses on cigarette boxes when he couldn't access paper.

"My crime was that I fought against the autocratic regime," Oli added. "But this never deterred me, instead, it emboldened me to continue the struggle."

After his release in 1987, he joined the CPN-UML and rose through the ranks, winning a parliamentary seat.

He first became prime minister in 2015, before being re-elected in 2018 and reappointed briefly in 2021 in Nepal's often turbulent parliament.

In the Himalayan republic of some 30 million people, overshadowed by giant neighbours India and China, Oli previously trod a fine balance between the rivals.

But he also stoked populist rhetoric against India, which is often portrayed as acting like an overbearing "big brother" to Nepal.