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
*
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 ...
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