The Rastriya Janata Party, Nepal, abbr. ''RJPN'' (,

translation Translation is the communication of the semantics, meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The English la ...

: National People's Party, Nepal) was the fourth-largest political party in Nepal after the

Nepali Congress The Nepali Congress ( ; Abbreviation, abbr. NC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a Social democracy, social democratic List of political parties in Nepal, political party in Nepal and the largest party in the country ...

, the

Nepal Communist Party The Nepal Communist Party, abbreviated NCP (, ) was a communist party in Nepal that existed from 2018 to 2021. It was founded on 17 May 2018, from the unification of two Left-wing politics, leftist parties, Communist Party of Nepal (Unified M ...

and the Samajbadi Party, Nepal. It was formed on 21 April 2017 after the merger of Tarai Madhes Loktantrik Party, led by the Mahantha Thakur, Terai Madhes Sadbhawana Party, led by the Mahendra Raya Yadav, Sadbhavana Party, led by the Rajendra Mahato, Nepal Sadbhawana Party, led by the Anil Kumar Jha, Madhesi Jana Adhikar Forum (Republican), led by Rajkishor Yadav and Rastriya Madhesh Samajwadi Party, led by

Sharat Singh Bhandari Sharat Singh Bhandari () is a Nepalese politician and a former Minister of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation of Government of Nepal. HIs ministerial tenure began on 4 June 2021 but he was removed from the post by the Supreme Court on 22 Ju ...

. The party was founded with the ideology of

democratic system Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...

. On 22 April 2020, the party merged with Samajbadi Party, Nepal to form Janata Samajbadi Party, Nepal.

History

On 14 April 2017, six of the seven constituents of the United Democratic Madhesi Front agreed in principle to merge in a bid to form a strong force representing the

Terai The Terai or Tarai is a lowland region in parts of southern Nepal and northern India that lies to the south of the outer foothills of the Himalayas, the Sivalik Hills and north of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. This lowland belt is characterised by ...

region. The party was formed on 21 April, as the Rastriya Janata Party and Mahanta Thakur was announced as its chairperson. The party on 26 April, changed its name to Rastriya Janata Party Nepal (RJPN) after it clashed with another party bearing the name Rastriya Janata Party, which later merged with Nepal Loktantrik Forum, registered with the Election Commission. The party registered with the

Election Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

on 7 July 2017.

Elections, 2017–2020

The party had initially decided to not participate in the third phase of the local elections but changed their decision later. The election of 1,112 candidates of the party handed it the second highest number of candidates elected in Province No. 2. The party won 25 mayoral posts, including a win in

Janakpur Janakpurdham or Janakpur (), is the capital city of Madhesh Province. This sub-metropolitan city is a central hub for the Maithili language, as well as for religious and cultural tourism in Nepal. The city was founded in the early 18th centur ...

. Ahead of the legislative and provincial elections, the RJPN formed an alliance with the Upendra Yadav-led Federal Socialist Forum, Nepal. The party won 17 seats in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

and finished with the fourth highest vote count in

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

. The party won in key areas of their home province, Province No. 2, winning 13 mayoral seats out of 67 municipalities in the province, which is nearly 19%, making it the 3rd largest party at the local level in the province. The party won 25 seats in the provincial assembly for Province No. 2, 1 seat in

Lumbini Province Lumbini Province () is a Provinces of Nepal, province in western Nepal. The country's Provinces of Nepal, third largest province in terms of area as well as List of Nepalese provinces by population, population, Lumbini is home to the World Herita ...

and 2 seats in Sudurpashchim. Following the election, RJPN and Federal Socialist Forum announced that they would form a coalition government in Province No. 2, with FSFN getting the post of Chief Minister and RJPN getting the post of Speaker. The party won 2 seats in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

elections, both candidates were elected unopposed from Province No. 2. On 20 April 2018, disgruntled leaders led by Ashok Kumar Yadav broke away from the party and formed Rastriya Janata Party (Democratic). The party merged with Samajbadi Party, Nepal on 22 April 2020.

Breakaway factions

List of breakaway parties

Electoral performance

Presence in various provinces

Leadership

Presidium

The Rastriya Janata Party Nepal was led by a six member presidium who would share the chairmanship of the party on a rotational basis. * Mahantha Thakur * Mahendra Raya Yadav * Rajendra Mahato * Anil Kumar Jha * Raj Kishor Yadav *

General Secretary

* Rajeev Jha * Jitendra Prasad Sonal * Jangi Lal Raya *Jitendra Singh Yadav *Keshav Kumar Jha * Manish Kumar Suman

Senior leader

* Hridayesh Tripathi

Vice president

* Brikhesh Chandra Lal * Laxman Lal Karna

References

{{Political parties in Nepal 2017 establishments in Nepal 2020 disestablishments in Nepal Political parties established in 2017 Political parties disestablished in 2020 Federalist parties in Nepal Defunct socialist parties in Nepal Political parties of minorities in Nepal