In the untimely death of his son Prakash on Sunday, CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has lost the most trustworthy member of his secretariat.

Dahal will now need a candidate suited to lead the secretariat, where Jokh Bahadur Mahara is the de-facto coordinator. Since the whole party organisation is engaged in election campaign, the Maoist Centre is yet to start discussions on candidates to fill the vacancy. Chairman Dahal is said to be talking about filling the void.

“The chairman asked me whether I could join his team but I have yet to take any decision,” said Shamir Dahal, who led the former PM’s secretariat for long. Shamir is the son of Chairman Dahal’s brother Narayan Dahal. Shamir expressed his concern that he may not be able to accomplish all the tasks Prakash did at the secretariat.

Prakash was not only the son of the Maoist chairman but a manager of all his activities. “He was actually the focal person of the secretariat as he had to deal with all the issues related to the party and the chairman,” said Chudamani Khadka, former personal secretary to Dahal.

When Dahal became the prime minister in 2008, Prakash was his driver. He soon started managing the secretariat along with Mahara. His team included Manahari Timilsina as the press coordinator and Santu Darai. Prakash handled all the appointments for his father.

Since Sunday, Shamir has been helping out in the tasks at the secretariat besides looking after issues related to the Maoist chair’s campaigns in Chitwan.