Rastriya Prajatantra Party, Nepal (;

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 Democratic Party Nepal'') is a

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

right-wing Right-wing politics is the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position based on natural law, economics, authority, property ...

cultural conservative Cultural conservatism is described as the protection of the cultural heritage of a nation state, or of a culture not defined by state boundaries. It is sometimes associated with criticism of multiculturalism, and anti-immigration sentiment. Bec ...

party. It previously existed as

royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...

political party in Nepal from 2006 to 2016. The party was formed as a splinter of

Rastriya Prajatantra Party The Rastriya Prajatantra Party (; ; , ()) is a monarchist, constitutional monarchist and Hindu nationalist List of political parties in Nepal, political party in Nepal. The party was formed by Panchayat (Nepal), Panchayat era Prime Minister o ...

in 2006 and was later reunified in 2016. The party was reformed in 2022 by

Kamal Thapa Kamal Thapa () is a Nepalese politician belonging to Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal. Thapa, has served as a Deputy Prime Minister of Nepal, Deputy Prime Minister and Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration (Nepal), Federal A ...

. The party supported the restoration of the

kingdom in Nepal under the

Shah dynasty The Shah dynasty (), also known as the Shahs of Gorkha or the Royal House of Gorkha, was the ruling Chaubise Thakuri dynasty and the founder of the Gorkha Kingdom from 1559 to 1768 and later the unified Kingdom of Nepal from 1768 to 28 May ...

. Presently, the party advocates only

Hindu nationalism Hindu nationalism has been collectively referred to as the expression of political thought, based on the native social and cultural traditions of the Indian subcontinent. "Hindu nationalism" is a simplistic translation of . It is better descri ...

. The party was registered with the

Election Commission of Nepal The Election Commission, Nepal (; ''Nirvācana āyōg, Nēpāl'') is a constitutional body responsible for conducting and monitoring elections, as well as registering parties and candidates and reporting election outcomes, in Nepal. It was born o ...

ahead of the April 2008 Constituent Assembly election for the first time. Ahead of the election, the party sought to form a front of royalist parties. In the 2013 elections, the party had emerged as the fourth largest party in the

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

winning 24 out of 575 seats.

History

Founding, 2006–2008

It was started as a breakaway faction of the

under leadership of

, home minister under

King Gyanendra Gyanendra Shah (born 7 July 1947) is the final monarch of Nepal, ruled from 2001 until 2008, when the monarchy was overthrown. He briefly held the throne as a child between 1950 and 1951, when his grandfather Tribhuvan and his family fled to In ...

's direct rule. Thapa resigned as party chair in October 2006. RPP won the largest number of mayors in the 2006 municipal election. Rajaram Shrestha won in the capital

Kathmandu Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, situated in the central part of the country within the Kathmandu Valley. As per the 2021 Nepal census, it has a population of 845,767 residing in 105,649 households, with approximately 4 mi ...

; also Khadga Prasad Palungua in

Dharan Dharan () is a sub-metropolitan city in Sunsari District of Koshi Province, in eastern Nepal, which was established as a fourth municipality in the Kingdom in 1958. It is the third most populous city in eastern Nepal after Biratnagar and I ...

, Pralhad Prasad Shah Haluwai in

Biratnagar Biratnagar () is a List of cities in Nepal, metropolitan city in Nepal, which serves as the capital of Koshi Province. With a Metropolitan Urban Agglomeration population of 244,750 as per the 2021 Nepal census, 2021 census, it is the largest c ...

, Ram Shankar Shah in Jaleswor, Sumitra Madhinne in

Bhaktapur Bhaktapur (Nepali language, Nepali and Sanskrit: भक्तपुर, ; "City of Devotees"), known locally as Khwopa (Nepal Bhasa: , ) and historically called Bhadgaon, is a city in the east corner of the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal located abou ...

, Madhukar Prasad Adhikari in

Hetauda Hetauda (, ) is a sub-metropolitan city in Makwanpur district of Bagmati Province in central Nepal. It is the administrative headquarters of the Makwanpur district and the capital of Bagmati Province as declared by a majority (105 out of 110) ...

, Bimal Prasad Shrivastav in

Birgunj Birgunj () is a metropolitan city in Parsa District in Madhes Pradesh in southern Nepal. It lies south of the capital Kathmandu, attached in the north to Raxaul on the border of the Indian state of Bihar. As an entry point to Nepal from Patn ...

, Bidur Khadka in

Baglung Baglung is a Municipalities of Nepal, municipality in Gandaki Province, in western Nepal, west of Kathmandu. It is the administrative headquarters of Baglung District. Baglung serves as the major center for business, finance, education, servic ...

and Bhimsen Thapa in

Pokhara Pokhara ( ) is a metropolis, metropolitan city located in central Nepal, which serves as the capital of Gandaki Province. Named the country's "capital of tourism" it is the List of cities in Nepal, second largest city after Kathmandu, with 599,5 ...

. However this election was boycotted by most major parties. In April 2006, the Nepal Samata Party (Socialist) merged into the party. In January 2007 the splinter group Rastriya Prajatantra Party (Nationalist) of Rajeswor Devkota rejoined the party. Bidwai Parishad of Jit Bahadur Arjel also merged with them On March 2, 2008, Rabindra Nath Sharma stepped down as party chairman, citing health reasons.

again became chairman."Sharma resigns as RPP-N chief; Thapa takes over"
Nepalnews, March 2, 2008.

Constituent Assembly, 2008–2015

The party won four seats in the

2008 Constituent Assembly election 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. Etymology English ''eight'', from Old English '', æhta'', Proto-Germanic ''*ahto'' is a direct continuation of Proto-Indo-European '' *oḱtṓ(w)-'', and as such cognate wi ...

. 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. 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. 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. The party boycotted the July 2008 presidential election in the Constituent Assembly, on the grounds that the major parties were treating the election as a partisan contest. In August 2008 some senior leaders, including Rabindra Nath Sharma and Rajeshwor Devkota, left the party and joined the

. The party won 24 seats under proportional representation in the 2013 Constituent Assembly elections making it the fourth largest party in the

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

. 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 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 30 December 2013. However, the Election Commission turned down the breakaway group's request seeking recognition as a new party and claim of

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 ...

seats. 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" Other dissidents leaders said it was Chairman Kamal Thapa's "concession on monarchy and Hindu state" that precipitated the split.

Unification, 2015–2016

When the party joined the government of

Khadga Prasad Oli Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli (; born 22 February 1952), commonly known as K. P. Sharma Oli or simply K. P. Oli (English pronunciation: , ), is a Nepalese politician who is serving as the prime minister of Nepal since 15 July 2024. Chairman of the ...

, Bikram Bahadur Thapa and Kunti Devi Shahi became state ministers. On 21 November 2016, Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal and Rastriya Prajtantra Party announced their unification. The new party retained the name of

. The new party had a total strength of 37 in the Parliament of Nepal becoming the fourth largest party. Kamal Thapa was elected chairman of the party in a special general convention in Kathmandu in February 2017.

Revival, 2022-present

On 13 February 2022,

who had prior made a declaration of leaving

made a press release about joining the Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal soon as the national president of the party. 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 remains

Hindutva Hindutva (; ) is a Far-right politics, far-right political ideology encompassing the cultural justification of Hindu nationalism and the belief in establishing Hindu hegemony within India. The political ideology was formulated by Vinayak Da ...

. On 21 July 2022, Former Urban Development Minister Dil Nath Giri, Former RPP Vice-President Dil Bikash Rajbhandari along with leaders Shyam Timalsina, Keshavraj Shrestha, Daman Basnet, Sudha Joshi, Ranjita Shrestha and Dipesh Khatri resigned en masse from RPP and joined hands with Kamal Thapa in a welcome program in Kathmandu.

Electoral performance

References

{{Authority control Nepalese Hindu political parties Hindu nationalism in Nepal 2022 establishments in Nepal Political parties disestablished in 2016 Right-wing parties 2016 disestablishments in Nepal