Communist Party of Nepal

The Communist Party of Nepal (CPN; Nepali: नेपाल कम्युनिष्ट पार्टी) was a communist political party in Nepal from 1949 to 1962. It was founded on 15 September 1949 to struggle against the autocratic Rana regime, feudalism and imperialism. The founding general secretary was Pushpa Lal Shrestha. Other members were Nar Bahadur Karmacharya, Niranjan Govinda Baidhya, and Narayan Bilas Joshi.

Not to be confused with Nepal Communist Party, Communist Party of Nepal (2013), or Communist Party of Nepal (2014).
For other parties of the same name, see List of communist parties in Nepal.
Communist Party of Nepal

नेपाल कम्युनिष्ट पार्टी
General SecretaryTusli Lal Amatya
FounderPushpa Lal Shrestha
FoundedSeptember 15, 1949 (1949-09-15)
Dissolved1962
Succeeded byCommunist Party of Nepal (Amatya)
Communist Party of Nepal (Rayamajhi)
IdeologyCommunism
Marxism-Leninism
Political positionFar-left
Election symbol
Communism in Nepal
Leaders
Current groups
Defunct groups
Related articles
 Communism portal

History

The party was formed by Pushpa Lal Shreshta, a former member of the Nepali National Congress. He had grown disillusioned with the infighting in the party and the willingness to cooperate and make concessions with the Ranas. After his resignation from the Nepali National Congress he had been inspired by Marxist literature and also published a translated version of The Communist Manifesto in Nepali in April 1949.[1]

There were initial plans to work within the Nepali National Congress as a leftist group or organize as a workers-peasants party but this was eventually scrapped. In April 1949, Pushpa Lal became the secretary of an organizing committee which was to become the Communist Party of Nepal. The Central Organising Committee of the CPN published the first issue of the 'Communist Pachhik Prachar Patra' on 15 September 1949 as the manifesto of the Communist Party of Nepal . The date was symbolic as exactly one hundred and three years ago, Jang Bahadur Rana had started the Rana regime in Nepal after orchestrating the Kot massacre.[1]

The Communist Party of Nepal played an important role in the 1951 uprising that overthrew the Rana regime Rana regime. The party was one of the constituents of the United Democratic Front along with smaller communist and leftist groups. The UDF organized civil disobedience movements and also demanded the release of political prisoners.[2]

Ban on CPN, 1952-54

On 8 June 1952, the Kisan Sangh (Farmer's Union), the farmers wing of the CPN, declared a revolt against landlords and demanded that land be distributed to landless peasants. Earlier in the year in January, a coup was attempted by the Rakshya Dal under the leadership of Kunwar Inderjit Singh. The party had occupied the airfield, radio station, the post and the telegraph office at Singha Durbar. They had demanded that an all-party government including the Communists but exuding the far-right Nepal Rashtrabadi Gorkha Parishad. The military intervened and Dr K.I. Singh was arrested. As a consequence of this event, the Communist Party of Nepal was banned on 24 January 1952.[2][3]

The party contested the 1953 Kathmandu municipal election as independents and won the position of chairman in addition to four other seats in the municipal council.[4] In the end of 1955, the party organized the Rastriya Janamorcha (National People's Front) under the leadership of general secretary Keshar Jang Raymajhi.[4]

First general convention, 1954–58

In 1954 the first party congress was held clandestinely in Patan. Man Mohan Adhikari was elected as the party's general secretary and the party also approved a program to replace monarchism with a republican system framed by an elected constituent assembly.[5]

In 1956 when the Tanka Prasad Acharya-led government became an ally of the Communist Party of Nepal, the party had to accept constitutional monarchy as a condition to list the ban on the party. In April 1956 the ban on the party was lifted.[5] The party was also considered to be relatively tamed at this point and the leadership had also displayed a level of deference towards the monarchy that most communist movements did not.[3]

In 1957 the second party congress was held in Kathmandu. For the first time the party could hold its congress openly. Keshar Jung Rayamajhi was elected general secretary.

First elections and royal coup, 1959–61

The party contested the 1959 general elections and won four seats to the first House of Representatives of Nepal. Tulsi Lal Amatya was elected as the party's parliamentary party leader in the House of Representatives.[6] CPN also had one member in the Senate (upper house at the time) when Sambhu Ram Shrestha was elected in 1959. When King Mahendra took power and started his own direct rule, two major blocks developed in the party.[5] The block led by Keshar Jang Rayamajhi supported the royal coup and the other block led by Tulsi Lal Amatya called for a united struggle against the coup. Rayamajhi's position prompted Ajoy Ghosh, leader of the Communist Party of India to advice Rayamjhi to rectify his positions and retain the struggle against the monarchy.[7] In early 1961 all political parties were banned. A wave of repression against CPN was initiated by the government. Rayamajhi, had however, expressed certain faith in the politics of the monarch, something that provoked stern reaction from other sectors of the party.

To resolve the conflict a central plenum was convened in Darbhanga, India as all political gatherings in Nepal had been banned by royal decree. The plenum unanimously passed the line of armed struggle that was proposed by Pushpa Lal.[1] Three lines had now emerged in the party, a pro-constitutional monarchy line led by Rayamajhi, a line that wanted to restore the dissolved parliament and launch broad mass movements led by Pushpa Lal and a third line which favoured a constitutional assembly led by Mohan Bikram Singh. The latter line emerged victorious, but its sole representative in the Central Committee was Singh.

Split, 1962

In April 1962 one section of the party convened the third party congress in Varanasi, India. The congress approved the programme of National Democratic Revolution proposed by Tulsi Lal Amatya. Amatya was also elected as the general secretary.[1] Pushpa Lal was in the capital at the time of the congress but had supported the decision. The congress also decided to expel Rayamjhi who supported the monarchy. But the faction led by Rayamajhi, who controlled the Central Committee, did not recognize this congress as legitimate. The party was then split into the Communist Party of Nepal (Amatya) and the pro-monarchy Communist Party of Nepal (Rayamajhi).[7]

Ideology

The main objective of the Communist Party of Nepal in the 1950s was to transform Nepal into a republic, later on during the decade the party adopted Leninist principles of class struggle against the urban centered and the elite oriented. The party was also critical of Nepali Congress which was considered close to the ruling Indian National Congress. The party had opposed what it called imperialism of India[5]

Electoral performance
Election Leader Votes Seats Position Resulting government
# % #
1959 Keshar Jung Rayamajhi 129,142 7.2
4 / 109
 4th In opposition

Leadership

General Secretaries of Communist Party of Nepal (1949-1962)

See also

References
  1. Gurung, M. D. (1977). "Communist Movement in Nepal". Economic and Political Weekly. 12 (44): 1849–1852. ISSN 0012-9976. JSTOR 4366057.
  2. Levi, Werner (1953). "Government and Politics in Nepal: II". Far Eastern Survey. 22 (1): 5–10. doi:10.2307/3024691. ISSN 0362-8949. JSTOR 3024691.
  3. "SINHAS Abstracts: Volume 2, No. 2". 2007-02-06. Archived from the original on 2007-02-06. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
  4. Levi, Werner (1956). "Politics in Nepal". Far Eastern Survey. 25 (3): 39–46. doi:10.2307/3023744. ISSN 0362-8949. JSTOR 3023744.
  5. Khadka, Narayan (1995). "Factionalism in the Communist Movement in Nepal". Pacific Affairs. 68 (1): 55–76. doi:10.2307/2759768. ISSN 0030-851X. JSTOR 2759768.
  6. Sapkota, Dhakaram (December 2016). "समकालीन नेताहरुसँग मनमोहन आधिकारीको सम्बन्ध". Tribhuvan University Journal. VOLUME. XXX, NUMBER 2.
  7. Parajulee, Ramjee P.. The Democratic Transition in Nepal. Rowman & Littlefield, 2000. p. 72
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