Chaos has erupted with the announcement of the joint Janaandolan (People's Movement) Committee on Monday under the active involvement of former king Gyanendra Shah for restoration of the monarchy.
Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) Chairman Rajendra Lingden, and RPP Nepal Chairman Kamal Thapa, both of whom were included as members of the steering committee, have refused to remain part of it.
"He (Rajendra Lingden) was apparently included in the steering committee, but he will not stay in it," RPP Spokesperson Mohan Shrestha told Setopati. Similarly, Thapa has also refused to join the steering committee. Speaking to Setopati, he said, "I wasn’t even consulted about being included in that committee, and there’s no question of me joining it."
Keshar Bahadur Bista, a former minister from the Panchayat era, has also stated that he will not be part of the committee. Citing the example of the former king relinquishing the crown and throne, Bista said he does not consider himself fit to serve as a committee member at his age. "The king gave up the crown and throne; I don’t need to hold a position in a movement to restore the monarchy. I’ve told them I’ll help without taking a post," Bista told Setopati. "We’ll discuss further, but for now, let others take the roles."
On Monday, supporters of the monarchy, with the interest and active participation of former king Gyanendra Shah, formed the joint Janaandolan Committee.
The movement's primary objective is to restore the monarchy along with a Hindu state. The 86-year-old former Panchayat-era figure Nava Raj Subedi was appointed as its commander. Subedi is currently not active in politics and holds no role in the RPP or any other political entity.
The committee commanded by Subedi has put forward four key issues—restoration of a constitutional monarchy, reinstatement of Hindu kingdom, abolition of federalism, and control of corruption and promotion of good governance.
Leaders such as RPP Chairman Rajendra Lingden, who has been actively working to restore the monarchy, Kamal Thapa of RPP Nepal, medical entrepreneur Durga Prasai, and Keshar Bahadur Bista of the National Strength Building Campaign, failed to agree on accepting each other’s leadership.
As a result, RPP leaders say, Subedi was put forward with the consent of former king Gyanendra. Senior RPP Vice-chairman Rabindra Mishra and General Secretary Dhawal Shamsher Rana are said to have played key role in appointing Subedi as the movement’s commander, according to RPP leaders.
Mishra has been made the member-secretary of the committee, while chairman Lingden has been relegated to a mere member.
Within the RPP, a polarization had already begun some time ago, with Senior Vice-chairman Mishra and General Secretary Rana on one side and the main leadership, including Chairman Lingden, on the other. Mishra and Rana had been growing closer to former king Gyanendra for some time and had been pressuring the party to immediately join the movement to restore the monarchy. This was why the RPP canceled a pre-scheduled mass meeting and went to welcome former king Gyanendra when he arrived in Kathmandu from Pokhara on March 8.
However, even before this, there had been a sort of tussle within the RPP regarding restoration of the monarchy.
When Mishra and Rana prepared to announce the Janaandolan Committee without consulting Lingden, Thapa, Bista, or even those supposedly listed as advisors, strong opposition emerged within the RPP on Sunday. During a meeting of the RPP’s working committee that day, Spokesperson Gyanendra Shahi, who is also a federal parliamentarian, vehemently opposed what he called an attempt to "surrender the RPP to Nagarjun."
"We cannot accept the Tulsi Giri model that failed in 2005. Searching for a new Tulsi Giri will be counterproductive. The ploy to hand over the RPP to Nagarjun is unacceptable," an RPP official told Setopati quoting Shahi as saying during the working committee meeting.
On February 1, 2005, Gyanendra had seized power through a military coup and formed a council of ministers under his chairmanship, appointing Panchayat-era prime ministers Tulsi Giri and Kirti Nidhi Bista as vice-chairmen. Giri had been living in India for a long time and was far removed from Nepali politics at that time.
This time, too, the formation of the joint Janaandolan Committee under the leadership of Nava Raj Subedi, who has been out of politics since 1986, has sparked intense opposition and dissatisfaction within the RPP.
As a result, the committee appears to be disintegrating even before the movement has begun. "Back then, they brought in someone who had already vanished from the national political scene. The same is happening now," the official quoted Shahi as saying.
Who is Subedi, the figure at the center of the controversy?
Active in politics since the 1960s, Subedi was considered a trusted confidant of the king during the Panchayat era. He is among those who repeatedly benefited during that period.
Subedi was appointed assistant minister in 1967.
Promoted to industry minister just a year later, Subedi was elected as a member of the Rastriya Panchayat in 1981 representing Ramechhap.
In the same year, he became the minister of Home and Panchayat Affairs. Following the 1986 election, he was chosen as the chairman of the Rastriya Panchayat.
At that time, it was customary for the Rastriya Panchayat chairman to be recommended by the royal palace. Based on the Panchayat’s recommendation, the then-royal palace appointed Subedi as chairman.
Thereafter, Subedi was nominated as the chairman of the Panchayat Policy and Investigation Committee. During that era, it was the norm for the National Panchayat chairman to also serve as the chairman of the Panchayat Policy and Investigation Committee.
