What does the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Nepal Janata Party (NJP) have in common? Well, to begin with both have lotus as their election symbol. And, then, there is also the fact that the NJP believes in the ideologue of Deendayal Upadhyaya of the political party Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the forerunner of the BJP.
With a new central office in Kathmandu that opened last month, the NJP is trying to find a foothold in the Himalayan nation, where politics has mostly been dominated by left of the centre and centrist parties. The party is attempting to mobilise the country's Hindu population which currently stands at 81.19 percent, as per the 2021 Census.
Beginnings and the Way Forward
The NJP was formed in 2005, according to Khem Nath Acharya, senior vice president of the party. Acharya explained to The Quint that the party was formed 18 years ago as part of a plan of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to expand its footprint across the border as well.
"However, we have been dormant for years since Nepal was going through a revolution, the Loktantra Andolan (which is a series of political agitations against the direct rule of King Gyanendra),” he added.Khem Nath Acharya, NJP vice president
“We believe in the ideology of Deendayal Upadhyaya. Our country is originally a Hndu nation and our culture is the Vedic culture that he has eulogised,” Acharya told The Quint.
Acharya frequently travels to Delhi and other parts of India to be part of functions of the RSS. In fact, just last week, the leader was in Delhi to meet leaders from the BJP, including a few Union ministers.
A delegation of NJP leaders calling upon BJP MP and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Jagdambika Pal (first from left).
(Photo: Facebook/ Tribhuwan Pathak)
Acharya said that over the last six months, the party has heightened its activities that have led it to win 17 panchayat seats in recent elections.
The party now has its sight on the 2027 elections. “We know that there is an underlying sentiment in Nepal that cares for the Hindu faith, and I have no doubt that we will win,” asserted Acharya. It has now chalked out its future course of action for the next few years.
“A team has been formed in our national executive meet that was held recently – and we have a strategic plan for the next five as well as 10 years," he added. It wants to rope in young people, especially those below the age of 40, Acharya said. The party currently has about 40,000 members, he claimed.
Acharya said that the mobilisation drive is essential as the current government led by Prime Minister Pushpa Kumar Dahal is "spoiling the atmosphere" of the country by its policy of appeasement. He also alleged that Dahal was widening the gap between the people of the hilly and Terai regions (where most of the Madheshi population stays. The Madheshis are non-Nepali speakers and consist of ethnic groups like Marwaris, Biharis, Muslims etc). This is the reason why the party's support base is slowly eroding, he asserted.
The NJP has started focusing its efforts in areas closer to the border with India. A look at the demographics may explain why that is the case.
Most of the areas on the border with India are in the Terai region where the Madhesis stay. Languages like Maithili (which is the second most popular language in Nepal and spoken in a large part of the border in Bihar and Bhojpuri, are popular in the Terai region.
Emergence of Hindu Nationalism in Nepal
The party's mobilisation drive comes at a time when Nepal politics is seeing a silent change with the emergence of Hindu nationalism – and growing calls for the country to become a Hindu Rashtra or at least for it to revert to its pre-2006 status.
Between 1962 and 2006, when the monarchy was overthrown, Nepal was a Hindu kingdom and the only Hindu country in the world. Then, in 2007, the interim constitution of Nepal declared it a secular country. In 2008, the monarchy was abolished soon after, and Nepal became a secular republic.
Eminent Nepali journalist Kanak Mani Dixit told local news media outlets last year that the the demand for Nepal to return to its pre-republic status was being driven by “many, particularly among the fallen elite, who are leaning towards Hindutva as a way to gain back lost positions”. Dixit referred to former King Gyanendra Shah as an example.
He explained that the demand for a Hindu rashtra is a "conservative agenda by those who feel they have lost political power under the new constitution".
The journalist pointed out the flaws behind such a demand. "How can Nepal be a Hindu state when nearly 20 percent of the population do not even identify as Hindus," he said.
Analyst Santosh Sharma Poudel, head of the Centre for Strategic Affairs at the Nepal Institute for Policy Research, a Kathmandu-based think tank, told The Quint that the demand for making Nepal a Hindu state is, however, intertwined with restoring the monarchy.
Poudel said Nepal’s transformation to a democracy over the past 16 years had been marked by many political exhortations, which had as yet failed to materialise.
“The problem is that political parties have not been successful in delivering their promises and things are, possibly, worse than when Nepal was a monarchy. Hence, there is frustration among people and a rise in people demanding a Hindu monarchy.”Santosh Sharma Poudel, head of the Centre for Strategic Affairs at the Nepal Institute for Policy Research
Poudel also noted that an increase in the number of Christians in the country has also worried some Hindus.
As per the 2021 Census data, Nepal’s Hindu population fell by 0.11 per cent while the population following Christianity grew by 0.36 per cent, even though it was still only 1.76 per cent of the population.
"Hindus are worried about the activity of Christian missionaries in expanding the religion,” Poudel said.
A report, as quoted by The Kathmandu Post, by the US Department of State has said right-wing religious groups have been providing funds to influential politicians of all parties in Nepal, so that they speak in favour of a Hindu statehood.
In its International Religious Freedom Report 2022, the State Department, quoting civil society sources, stated that some politicians associated with the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (or RPP, a right-wing party advocating for a Hindu Nepal) have been using anti-Christian sentiments to garner populist support.
The report touched on various discriminatory practices being observed in Nepal, particularly against Christians, Muslims, Tibetan refugees, and other religious minorities.
“Civil society leaders said Hindu groups in India continued to pressure politicians in Nepal, particularly the RPP, to support reversion to a Hindu state. According to NGOs and Christian leaders, small numbers of Hindutva (Hindu nationalist) supporters endeavoured to create an unfriendly environment for Christians on social media and encouraged “upper-caste” Hindus to enforce caste-based discrimination at local political rallies,” reads the statement.
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