Dr. Vijay Poudel

Dr. Vijay Poudel was a Nepali politician and former Member of Parliament whose career ran through the successive splits and reunions of Nepal's communist movement. A senior leader of CPN (United) at the time of his death, he had earlier spent long years in CPN-UML and then in CPN (Unified Socialist). He died in Kathmandu on 12 October 2026.

Poudel was for many years active in UML politics. When Madhav Kumar Nepal's group broke away from UML to form CPN (Unified Socialist), Poudel went with that faction. Later, when Unified Socialist moved toward a unity process with the then Maoist party, he disagreed with the direction and became active instead in CPN (United), the breakaway formation he belonged to when he died. Nepali outlets described him as a former lawmaker and a senior CPN (United) figure. He also operated Janata Television, a Kathmandu-based channel of which he was chairman, keeping a foothold in media as well as party work.

His family placed him close to the intellectual tradition of Nepali communism. Reports identified him as the son of Modnath Prashrit, the veteran communist leader and Marxist writer. At the time of his death he was survived by his wife and two children; their names were not published in the first news coverage that followed his sudden passing.

On the morning of 12 October 2026 Poudel felt unwell at his residence in the Naikap area of Kathmandu and was taken toward hospital. Dr. Kiran Nakarmi, executive director of Kirtipur Hospital, told OnlineKhabar that Poudel had already died by the time he was examined in the emergency department. Some early Nepali reports said a heart attack was suspected, but no formal medical cause was confirmed in those accounts. CPN (United) spokesperson Damodar Aryal confirmed that doctors had pronounced him dead. OnlineKhabar, Ratopati and other outlets carried the news the same day.

Basic biographical details such as his date of birth and exact age were not given in the first wave of reporting. What was clear was the outline of a life spent inside left politics in Nepal, through UML, Unified Socialist and finally CPN (United), and remembered by colleagues as a long-serving lawmaker and party worker whose convictions had stayed with him across each realignment of the parties he joined.