Rastriya Janamorcha

Rastriya Janamorcha (Nepali: राष्ट्रिय जनमोर्चा; translation: National People's Front) is a communist political party in Nepal. It was originally founded in 1995 as the legal front of Communist Party of Nepal (Masal). It was refounded again in 2006 after breaking away from Janamorcha Nepal and has acted as the legal front for the Mohan Bikram Singh led Communist Party of Nepal (Masal).[4]

Rastriya Janamorcha राष्ट्रिय जनमोर्चा
Chairman	Chitra Bahadur K.C.[1]
General Secretary	Janak Raj Sharma
Secretary	Him Lal Puri
Spokesperson	Durga Paudel
Founded	1999 original 2006 reestablished
Split from	Janamorcha Nepal
Headquarters	Budhanilkantha-12, Jyotinagar, Kapan, Kathmandu
Student wing	All Nepal National Independent Students Union (Sixth)
Youth wing	All Nepal Democratic Youth Association
Women's wing	All Nepal Women's Association
Ideology	Communism Marxism-Leninism Anti-federalism[2][3]
Political position	Left-wing to far-left
National affiliation	Communist Party of Nepal (Masal)
Seats in Pratinidhi Sabha	1 / 275
Seats in Provincial Assemblies	3 / 60 (Gandaki Province) 1 / 87 (Lumbini Province)
Election symbol
Website
www.rajamo.org
Politics of Nepal Political parties Elections

The party advocates decentralization within the former unitary system.[5]

History

Before formation (1991-1994)

The party contested the 1991 local elections as All Nepal Peasants Organization and contested in the 1994 legislative elections as All Nepal Rastriya Janamorcha.[6]

Merger and break away (2002-2008)

In 2002, the party merged with Samyukta Janamorcha Nepal, the legal front of Communist Party of Nepal (Unity Centre), to form Janamorcha Nepal. Janamorcha Nepal acted as the legal front of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unity Centre-Masal). After Janamorcha Nepal joined the governing Seven Party Alliance in 2006, Chitra Bahadur KC broke away from the party to reclaim the name of Rastriya Janamorcha. The party held three seats in the Interim Legislature-Parliament of Nepal.[4]

Constituent Assembly (2008-2015)

The party registered with the Election Commission of Nepal ahead of the 2008 Constituent Assembly elections.[7] The party won four seats in the election.[4]

In July 2010, the party expelled its general secretary Dilaram Acharya for breaking party discipline. He formed another party, Rastriya Janamorcha (Nepal), after his expulsion. The party won three seats in the 2013 Constituent Assembly election.[4]

Federal Nepal (2015-present)

After the promulgation of the Constitution of Nepal, Rastriya Janamorcha joined the coalition government of Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) and Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist). This was the first time that the party had not been in opposition.[8] Following this, party chairman Chitra Bahadur KC was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation.[9]

The party contested the 2017 local elections and won 186 seats in local government. The party won mayoral posts in Bareng rural municipality in Baglung and, Jhimruk and Malarani rural municipalities in Pyuthan.[10][11][12] Ahead of the 2017 legislative and provincial elections, the party joined the alliance of Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) and Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre).[13] The party won one seat to the Federal Parliament of Nepal but did not cross the three percent threshold to become a national party. The party also won three seats in the Provincial Assembly of Province No. 4 and one seat in the Provincial Assembly of Province No. 5.[14]

Electoral performance

Legislative elections

Election	Leader	Constituency votes			Party list votes			Seats		Position	Resulting government
		#	%	% change	#	%	% change	#	+/-
1999	Chitra Bahadur KC	121,394	1.41					5 / 205		5th	In opposition
2008	Chitra Bahadur KC	93,578	0.91	0.50	106,224	0.99		4 / 575	1	12th	In opposition
2013	Chitra Bahadur KC	66,666	0.74	0.17	92,387	0.98	0.01	3 / 575	1	12th	In opposition
2017	Chitra Bahadur KC	70,014	0.70	0.04	62,133	0.65[lower-alpha 1]	0.33	1 / 275	2	10th	In opposition

1. Represented as Independent for not reaching the 3% threshold

Provincial elections

Provincial Assembly	Election Year	Votes		Seats		Resulting government
		# of votes in PR	% of votes in PR	#	Position
Gandaki	2017	19,376	2.03	3 / 60	4th	In opposition
Lumbini		32,546	2.02	1 / 87	6th	In opposition

Leadership

Chairmen of Rastriya Janamorcha (1999-present)

• Chitra Bahadur KC, 1999-2002, 2006–present

General Secretaries of Rastriya Janamorcha (1999-present)

• Nawaraj Subedi, 1999-2002
• Dilaram Acharya, 2006-2010
• Santa Bahadur Nepali, 2011-2016
• Janak Raj Sharma, 2016–present

Linked organisations

• All Nepal Trade Union Congress
• All Nepal Women's Association
• ANNISU (6th)
• All Nepal Janatati Conference
• Jatiya Samata Samaj
• All Nepal Democratic Youth Association
• Raktim Sanskritik Pariwar
• Akhil Nepal Buddhijibi Sangh[15]
• All Nepal Teachers' Association

References

1. United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) : Activities » Activities Update » Activity Details Archived 2008-05-06 at the Wayback Machine
2. "Chitra Bahadur blames federalism for corruption". The Himalayan Times. 2019-09-28. Retrieved 2020-11-26.
3. "Federalism major hindrance to constitution writing: Chitra Bahadur KC". The Kathmandu Post. 2015-02-24. Retrieved 2020-11-26.
4. Political handbook of the world 2015. Lansford, Tom. Los Angeles, California. 2015-04-24. ISBN 9781483371573. OCLC 912321323.CS1 maint: others (link)
5. eKantipur.com - Nepal's No.1 News Portal Archived 2008-02-10 at the Wayback Machine
6. "राष्ट्रिय जनमोर्चा, Rastriya Janamorcha - RAJAMO, National Peoples' Front". rajamo.org. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
7. पार्टीको सूची — Election Commission of Nepal Archived 2013-11-02 at the Wayback Machine
8. "Janamorcha to join govt for first time in history - The Himalayan Times". The Himalayan Times. 2015-10-28. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
9. "3 more DPMs, 4 ministers sworn-in; total Cabinet strength is 26 - The Himalayan Times". The Himalayan Times. 2015-11-05. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
10. "4,888 representatives elected in 115 local units; with the list of winning chairpersons/mayors | NepaleKhabar.com". nepaleKhabar. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
11. Nepal, Review. "Rastriya Janamorcha wins elections in Malla Rani Rural Municipality of Pyuthan district - Review Nepal News". Review Nepal News. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
12. "Fringe parties limited to handful wins". Retrieved 2018-04-17.
13. "Rastriya Janamorcha to support left alliance". My Republica. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
14. "Provincial PR seat allocation to parties complete". The Himalayan Times. 2017-12-22. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
15. Weekly Nepal - Weekly News from Nepal - हाँकका मुख्य समाचारहरु

External links

• RJM website
• Hank Weekly