The Rastriya Prajatantra Party was formed by the ruling elite of the Panchayat era on 29 May 1990. The party split in the same year after another group also registered itself with the Election Commission. The two parties had the same name, ideology and statute but different flags and election symbols. The two parties, one led by Surya Bahadur Thapa zand the other led by Lokendra Bahadur Chand, contested the 1991 elections. The two parties won four seats between them with Chand's party winning three seats and Thapa's party winning one seat. Following their performance at the elections the two parties agreed to merge into a single Rastriya Prajatantra Party on 8 February 1992.[8][14]
The party held its first general convention from in 1992 from 11 to 16 June in Kathmandu and unanimously elected Surya Bahadur Thapa as its chairman. Lokendra Bahadur Chand and Rajeshwor Devkota were elected leader and co-chairman, respectively.[14] The party emerged as a third force at the 1992 local elections and the 1994 general elections. The party received 18 percent of the votes and won 20 seats to the House of Representatives, making them the third largest party in the parliament.[9]
Government and second split, 1995–1999
Coalition governments, 1995–1997
The party initially supported the minority government of CPN (UML) but later withdrew their support and backed a no-confidence motion Manmohan Adhikari.[15][16] The party then joined a coalition government with Nepali Congress and Nepal Sadbhawana Party under the premiership of Congress leader Sher Bahadur Deuba.[17][16] A faction of the party led by former prime minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand were dissatisfied with the coalition government and in March 1996 some cabinet ministers close to Chand withdrew their support for the Deuba government and resigned before a no-confidence vote was set to table by the opposition CPN (UML).[18] The ministers withdrew their resignation before the no-confidence vote and Deuba won the confidence vote.[19] Six cabinet ministers close to Chand again resigned from the government in December 1996 but supported Deuba in the confidence vote later and rejoined the cabinet.[20][21][22]
Chand and Thapa governments, 1997–1998
In March 1997 a faction of the party led by Lokendra Bahadur Chand joined a coalition government with CPN (UML), with Chand as prime minister.[16] On 3 October 1997, the faction led by Surya Bahadur Thapa voted for a no-confidence motion tabled by Nepali Congress and toppled the government. Thapa was then made the prime minister on 6 October 1997 with the support of Congress.[14][23]
After losing support within his party Thapa asked King Birendra to dissolve the house and call for fresh elections. After the recommendation of the Supreme Court, the king called forth a special session of the parliament to debate the no-confidence motion filed against Thapa.[24] Thapa survived the no-confidence vote and expelled six central committee members for threatening to back a no-confidence motion against him.[14][24]
The two parties contested the 1999 elections and fared badly in the election with the party winning 11 seats and the party led by Chand not winning any seats. Following the elections, the parties decided to merge again on 31 December 1999. A group led by Rajeshwar Devkota however decided not to rejoin the party and formed their own Rastriya Prajatantra Party (Nationalist).[14]
Direct rule and internal conflicts, 2002–2015
Second Chand and Thapa governments, 2002–2006
The king dismissed the government of Sher Bahadur Deuba on 4 October 2002 after failing to conduct the elections following the dissolution of the House of Representatives on May earlier that year.[26][27]Lokendra Bahadur Chand was then appointed as prime minister on 11 October 2002.[28] He resigned on 31 May 2003 after protests from opposition parties calling for the restoration of the parliament and the formation of a national consensus government.[29][30][31] Chand had also faced accusations from within his party of failing to address these issues. He was replaced by Surya Bahadur Thapa on 5 June 2002.[14][32]
At the third general convention of the party held in Pokhara from 12 to 14 December 2002, Surya Bahadur Thapa completed his second four-year term as party chairman and could not compete for the post of chairman again as per the party constitution. Pashupati SJB Rana was elected chairman during the convention and Padma Sundar Lawati, Kamal Thapa and Rosan Karki were nominated vice-president, general secretary and spokesperson respectively.[14][33]
On 1 February 2005, King Gyanendra dismissed Deuba as prime minister and seized executive powers.[40] The party announced their support for the pro-democracy agitation led by the Seven Party Alliance but ten members of the party's central committee, including Kamal Thapa who had rejoined the party after leaving for Janashakti, supported the coup. Thapa along with six central committee members were appointed to the King's cabinet in December 2005 with Thapa becoming Home Minister.[41]
On 10 January 2006, members of the central committee close to Kamal Thapa voted to replace Pashupati SJB Rana as party chairman with Thapa. Thapa's claim as new chairman was dismissed by other members of the party.[42] Thapa's faction of the party contested the 2006 local elections that was boycotted by the Seven Party Alliance and the Rana faction of the party. The party won mayoral positions in major cities including Kathmandu, Pokhara, Bharatpur and Dhangadhi in an election marred by a lack of candidates, violence and low turnout.[43][44] The party members that supported Thapa, including six incumbent cabinet ministers, were expelled. On 28 October 2006, they formed their own party, the royalist Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal, under the leadership of Kamal Thapa.[39][14]
Constituent Assembly, 2007–2015
The party held its fourth general convention from 9 to 11 December 2007 and re-elected Pashupati SJB Rana as party chairman.[14] Following the 2006 revolution a national consensus government under the leadership of Girija Prasad Koirala was formed. The parliament was reinstated and eventually transformed into the Interim Legislature Parliament after including the Maoists.[45] The party had eight seats in the parliament but two MPs, Budhhiman Tamang and Brijesh Kumar Gupta, were dismissed because of their support of the royal coup.[46]
In the 2008 elections the party failed to win a seat from the constituency vote but got 2.45% of the party list votes and won 8 seats to the 1st Constituent Assembly through the party-list proportional representation system. Party chairman Pashupati SJB Rana also lost from Sindhupalchowk 1.[39] On 28 May 2008, at the first session of the 1st Constituent Assembly. The party voted in favor of abolishing the monarchy and turning Nepal into a republic. Lokendra Bahadur Chand who was serving as the parliamentary party leader of the party was absent during the vote.[14][47] The party joined the Madhav Kumar Nepal led government in June 2009.
The party announced intentions to unify other pro-monarchist groups under their umbrella and groups including Nepal Ka Lagi Nepali Campaign, Mission Nepal, Gorach Abhiyan and the Gyanendra Shahi led Hamro Nepal Hami Nepali Campaign joined the party in the following months.[68][69] Former chairman of Bibeksheel Sajha Party, Rabindra Mishra also joined the party on 28 September 2022 as senior vice-president.[70]
At the first session of the 1st Constituent Assembly, the party voted to abolish the monarchy and turn Nepal into a secular republic.[14][47] Later however, the party advocated for turning Nepal into a Hindu republic.[76]Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal, a splinter group of the party which had voted against abolishing the monarchy changed its constitution to support the re-establishment of the Hindu state and a return to constitutional monarchy. After the merger between the two parties in November 2016 it was announced that the unified party would take up the constitution of Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal.[50] The party has stated support for a Sanatan Hindu state with full religious freedom and registered an amendment proposal for such on 19 March 2017.[77][78] The Election Commission removed the portion of the party statute that advocated for a Hindu state and monarchy on 17 March 2017 and asked the party to remove the provisions again on 22 January 2022 claiming that it was against Article 260 of the Constitution of Nepal.[79][80]
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