Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal राष्ट्रिय प्रजातन्त्र पार्टी नेपाल | |
|---|---|
| Chairman | Kamal Thapa |
| Founded | October 2006 |
| Split from | Rastriya Prajatantra Party |
| Headquarters | Kathmandu |
| Student wing | National Democratic Student Organisation, Nepal |
| Youth wing | National Democratic Youth Organisation, Nepal |
| Women's wing | National Democratic Women Organisation Nepal |
| Labour | National Democratic Trade union confederation |
| Ideology | Hindu nationalism Sarva Dharma Sama Bhava Conservatism Economic liberalism[1] |
| Political position | Right-wing |
| Colours | |
| Election symbol | |
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| Website | |
| www.rppn.org.np | |
Rastriya Prajatantra Party, Nepal (Nepali:राष्ट्रिय प्रजातन्त्र पार्टी नेपाल;translation:National Democratic Party Nepal) is aHinduright-wing,cultural conservative party. It previously existed asroyalistpolitical party in Nepal from 2006 to 2016.[2] The party was formed as a splinter ofRastriya Prajatantra Party in 2006 and was later reunified in 2016.[3] The party was reformed in 2022 byKamal Thapa.
The party supported the restoration of theHindu kingdom in Nepal under theShah dynasty.[4] Presently, the party advocates onlyHindu nationalism.[5]
The party was registered with theElection Commission of Nepal ahead of theApril 2008 Constituent Assembly election for the first time.[6] Ahead of the election, the party sought to form a front of royalist parties.[7]
In the2013 elections, the party had emerged as the fourth largest party in theConstituent Assembly winning 24 out of 575 seats.
It was started as a breakaway faction of theRastriya Prajatantra Party under leadership ofKamal Thapa, home minister underKing Gyanendra's direct rule. Thapa resigned as party chair in October 2006.[8]
RPP won the largest number of mayors in the 2006 municipal election. Rajaram Shrestha won in the capitalKathmandu; also Khadga Prasad Palungua inDharan, Pralhad Prasad Shah Haluwai inBiratnagar, Ram Shankar Shah inJaleswor, Sumitra Madhinne inBhaktapur, Madhukar Prasad Adhikari inHetauda, Bimal Prasad Shrivastav inBirgunj, Bidur Khadka inBaglung and Bhimsen Thapa inPokhara. However this election was boycotted by most major parties.[9]
In April 2006, theNepal Samata Party (Socialist) merged into the party.[10]
In January 2007 the splinter groupRastriya Prajatantra Party (Nationalist) ofRajeswor Devkota rejoined the party. Bidwai Parishad of Jit Bahadur Arjel also merged with them[11]
On March 2, 2008,Rabindra Nath Sharma stepped down as party chairman, citing health reasons.Kamal Thapa again became chairman.[12]
The party won four seats in the2008 Constituent Assembly election. At the first meeting of the Constituent Assembly on May 28, 2008, the party was the only party to oppose the declaration of a republic; there were 560 votes in favor of a republic and only the party's four votes against.[13] Thapa subsequently said on June 20, 2008 that the country faced an impending "disaster", urging alertness among the party. He said that the party's policies and programmes would remain the same despite the political change.[14] On July 13, 2008, he described the abolition of the monarchy as merely "an interim decision", saying that the party sought the restoration of the monarchy.[15]
The party boycotted theJuly 2008 presidential election in the Constituent Assembly, on the grounds that the major parties were treating the election as a partisan contest.[16]
In August 2008 some senior leaders, includingRabindra Nath Sharma andRajeshwor Devkota, left the party and joined theRastriya Prajatantra Party.[17]
The party won 24 seats under proportional representation in the2013 Constituent Assembly elections making it the fourth largest party in thehouse.[18] The party split following differences over naming candidates to the proportional representation seats won by the party. Central leaders of the party including former minister Tanka Dhakal and former Kathmandu mayoral candidate Rajaram Shrestha registered a new party the 'Nepali Rastriya Prajatantra Party' at theElection Commission on 30 December 2013.[19] However, the Election Commission turned down the breakaway group's request seeking recognition as a new party and claim ofproportional representation seats.[20] Tanka Dhakal later announced his return to the party stating "Splitting the party at this moment is not in our interest. It will weaken democracy"[21] Other dissidents leaders said it was Chairman Kamal Thapa's "concession on monarchy and Hindu state" that precipitated the split.[22][23]
When the party joined the government ofKhadga Prasad Oli, Bikram Bahadur Thapa and Kunti Devi Shahi became state ministers.[24]
On 21 November 2016, Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal andRastriya Prajtantra Party announced their unification. The new party retained the name ofRastriya Prajatantra Party. The new party had a total strength of 37 in theParliament of Nepal becoming the fourth largest party.[25] Kamal Thapa was elected chairman of the party in a special general convention in Kathmandu in February 2017.[26]
On 13 February 2022,Kamal Thapa who had prior made a declaration of leavingRastriya Prajatantra Party made a press release about joining the Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal soon as the national president of the party.[5] After the revival, the party left the agenda of Constitutional monarchy which the party had taken as its ideology for a long period. The main agenda of the new party remainsHindu nationalism orHindutva.[27]
| Election | Leader | Votes | Seats | Position | Resulting government | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Kamal Thapa | 110,519 | 1.03 | 4 / 275 | 12th | CPN (Maoist)–CPN (UML)–MJFN |
| 2013 | Kamal Thapa | 630,697 | 6.66 | 24 / 275 | 4th | Congress–CPN (UML)–RPP |
| 2022 | 588,849[28] | 5.57 | 14 / 275 [29] | 5th[30] | CPN(UML)-CPN (maoist)-RSP-RPP-CPN (Unified Socialist)-LSP | |
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)| International | |
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| National | |
