Nepali Congress


The Nepali Congress, colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a social democratic largest political party in Nepal. With 870,106 members as of the party's 14th general convention in December 2021, it stands as largest party by membership in Nepal. In June 2023, the party started online membership since the emergence of youth leaders in vital posts to attract youths to the party. The party remained the only among older parties to complete generation transition in leadership electing Gagan Thapa as party president. The party had won 89 seats in the 2022 general election and remained as the largest parliamentary group in the House of Representatives of the dissolved Second Federal Parliament.
There have been seven Nepali Congress prime ministers and the party has led the government fourteen times. Matrika Prasad Koirala, a founding member of the party was appointed as the first commoner prime minister following the end of the Rana regime in 1951. Subarna Shumsher Rana, another founding member of the party was appointed prime minister in 1958. Congress is the only party in Nepal to have been elected with a majority, with the party forming majority governments in 1959, 1991 and 1999 under B.P. Koirala, Girija Prasad Koirala and K.P. Bhattarai respectively with B.P. Koirala becoming the first elected prime minister of the country. The party also formed coalition governments in 1995 and 1998 with Girija Prasad Koirala and Sher Bahadur Deuba as prime ministers. The party emerged as the largest party following the Constituent Assembly election|2013 Constituent Assembly elections] and led a coalition government under Sushil Koirala. After the promulgation of the constitution in 2015, the party led coalition governments under Deuba in 2017 and 2021.
The party was formed in 1950 by the merger of the Nepali National Congress and the Nepal Democratic Congress along democratic socialist lines. NC prime ministers led four governments between the fall of the Rana dynasty and the start of the Panchayat era, including the first democratically elected government of Nepal, after the 1959 general election.
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Background

In 1947, Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala, published an appeal for a unified struggle of Nepali people against the Rana regime. That same year, some Nepalese met in Benaras and formed an organization by the name All Indian Nepali National Congress where an ad-hoc committee was established. The initial officers were chairman Devi Prasad Sapkota, vice-president Balchandra Sharma, general secretary Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, and public minister Gopal Prasad Bhattarai, publicity minister. Its Working Committee included Batuk Prasad Bhattarai, Narayan Prasad Bhattarai, and Narendra Regmi, while its coordinator was Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala.
Around the same time, Nepalese located in Calcutta formed another organization by the name All Indian Nepali Gorkha Congress whose chairman was Dharma Narayan Pradhan. Koirala travelled extensively to places such as Benaras, Calcutta, Darjeeling, Assam, Bhagsu, and Dehradun, and established contact with the Nepalese there. He met with Ganesh Man Singh during the same period. Nepalese representatives from different areas of Nepal and India organized one session in Calcutta. Koirala, Dilli Raman Regmi, Dharma Narayan Pradhan, and Dhan Man Singh Pariyar were present. In the same session, dropping Akhil Bharatiya from its name, the organization was named Nepali National Congress. Tanka Prasad Acharya, who was facing a life-sentence in Kathmandu, was made its chairman. The flag was square-shaped with white, blue, and red colors in succession, with the moon and the sun in its center.
The major four proposals passed by the session were to assist Indians in their independence movement, support Vietnam struggling for freedom against French colonization, ask for the immediate release of imprisoned members of the Nepal Praja Parishad, and initiate a non-violence movement in Nepal for the establishment of an accountable ruling system. The organization's modus operandi was chosen, and attached itself to the civil conscience process in Nepal by establishing Tanka Prasad Acharya as its chairman.

History

Nepali Congress formation, 1946–1950

The Nepali Congress Party was formed by the merger of Nepali National Congress and Nepal Democratic Congress. The Nepali National Congress was founded by BP Koirala in Calcutta, India on 25 January 1947. The Nepal Democratic Congress was founded by Subarna Shamsher Rana in Calcutta on 4 August 1948. The two parties merged on 10 April 1950 to form the Nepali Congress and Koirala became its first president. The party called for an armed revolution against the Rana regime.
During the Bairgania Conference in Bairgania, Bihar, on 27 September 1950 the Nepali Congress announced an armed revolution against the Rana regime. The president of the party also announced the liquidation of operations in India and that the party would operate only inside Nepal.
After King Tribhuvan took refuge inside the Indian Embassy on 6 November 1950. The Congress Liberation Army decided to take this opportunity to launch attacks against the regime before the King "left Nepalese soil". Matrika and Bisheshwor Prasad Koirala and Subarna Shamsher Rana flew to Purnia, Bihar. They called the commanders posted at different locations inside Nepal to prepare for armed strikes near the Nepal-India border.
On 11 November 1950, at midnight Birgunj was attacked, and by 12 November it fell to the Nepali Congress and the first "People's Government" was declared. The liberation army was able to control most of the eastern hills of Nepal and the town of Tansen in Palpa. After pressure by the Indian government and the mass movement by the Nepali Congress and other political parties, the Rana government finally submitted to their demands and King Tribhuvan returned to the throne, replacing King Gyanendra, who had been crowned king after King Tribhuvan left for India.

Transitional government, 1951–1959

After the fall of the Rana government, the Nepali Congress led three of the five governments formed before the elections. Matrika Prasad Koirala, the first commoner to become Prime Minister, led the government from 1951 to 1952 and 1953–1955 and Subarna Shamsher Rana led the government from 1958 to 1959. The much delayed elections were finally held in February 1959 and Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala became the first democratically elected Prime Minister of Nepal after the Nepali Congress won 74 of 109 seats in the parliament.

Panchayat government, 1960–1990

Following a royal coup by King Mahendra in 1960, many leaders of the party, including Koirala, Rana and General Secretary Hora Prasad Joshi, were imprisoned or exiled; others took political refuge in India. Although political parties were prohibited from 1960 to 1989 and remained outlawed during the Panchayat system under the aegis of the Associations and Organizations Act of 1963, the Nepali Congress persisted. The party placed great emphasis on eliminating the feudal economy and building a basis for socioeconomic development. It proposed nationalizing basic industries and instituting progressive taxes on land, urban housing, salaries, profits and foreign investments. While in exile, the Nepali Congress served as the nucleus around which other opposition groups clustered and instigated popular uprisings in the Hill and Terai regions. During this time, the Nepali Congress refused the overtures of a radical faction of the Communist Party of Nepal for a tactical alliance.
The Nepali Congress demonstrated endurance, but defection, factionalism, and external pressures weakened it over time. Nevertheless, it continued to be the only organized party to press for democratization. In the 1980 government system referendum, it supported the multiparty system in opposition to the panchayat system. The party boycotted the 1981 general election and rejected the new government. The death in 1982 of Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala further weakened the party.
After the party boycotted the 1986 general election to the Rastriya Panchayat, its members were allowed to run in the 1987 Nepalese local elections. In defiance of the demonstration ban, the Nepali Congress organized mass rallies with the communist factions in January 1990 that ultimately triggered the pro-democracy movement.

Post-Panchayat government, 1991–2002

After the Jana Andolan I, party president Krishna Prasad Bhattarai was invited to form an interim coalition government. In the 1991 general election, the Nepali Congress won 110 of 205 seats but Bhattarai lost his seat and yielded the position of prime minister to Girija Prasad Koirala who held his seat until 1994.
During the 1994 general election, the Nepali Congress lost its majority to Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist). The CPN lacked a majority and formed a minority government. After 46 parliamentarians from the CPN quit to form the Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist–Leninist), the Nepali Congress formed their own government with the Rastriya Prajatantra Party and Nepal Sadbhawana Party. After CPN offered Lokendra Bahadur Chand the position of prime minister, the Rastriya Prajatantra Party led a government with the CPN. Internal problems within the Rastriya Prajatantra Party caused one faction led by Surya Bahadur Thapa to lead a government with Nepali Congress and Nepal Sadbhawana Party.
Girija Prasad Koirala again became the Prime Minister in April 1998, leading a Congress minority government after Rastriya Prajatantra and Nepal Sadbhawana quit the government. Eventually, they got support from the CPN and after their withdrawal the CPN and Nepal Sadbhawana.
During the 1999 general election, Girija Prasad Koirala stepped aside in favour of Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, who returned as Prime Minister when the Nepali Congress won 111 out of 205 House seats. Bhattarai resigned as prime minister on 16 March 2000 after conflicts between himself and supporters of Girija Prasad Koirala. In the party's first open leadership election, the parliamentarians selected Girija Prasad Koirala as their leader by 69-43 votes over Sher Bahadur Deuba. Accordingly, King Birendra designated Girija Prasad Koirala as prime minister on 20 March.
On 8 August 2000, Koirala dismissed the Minister of Water Resources, Khum Bahadur Khadka, for calling for Koirala's resignation. Although Koirala beat back another challenge by Deuba's supporters at a party convention in January 2001, he resigned as Prime Minister on 19 July. Deuba then defeated Secretary General Sushil Koirala, 72–40, for the party leadership and was designated prime minister by the king.
In May 2002, the party's disciplinary committee expelled Deuba for failing to consult the party before seeking a parliamentary extension of the country's state of emergency. Deuba's supporters then expelled Koirala at a general convention in June. Deuba registered his faction as the Nepali Congress (Democratic), following a decision by the Election Commission that the Koirala faction held ownership of the name Nepali Congress, taking 37 central committee members and 40 of the party's lower house representatives with him.

King Gyanendra's rule, 2002–2006

In the months following the King's October 2002 decisions to dissolve the House of Representatives and replace Prime Minister Deuba with Rastriya Prajatantra's Lokendra Bahadur Chand, the party joined the CPN and other, smaller parties in challenging the constitutionality of the moves. The party played a significant role in the formation of the Seven Party Alliance, which launched a series of street protests against the King's regression. The Seven Party Alliance had earlier avoided the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) CPN-M and their violent methods, signed a 12-point understanding in Delhi in November 2005. The agreement contained three key commitmentsm, namely that the SPA endorsed CPN-M's fundamental demand for elections to a constituent assembly; the Maoists reciprocated with an assurance that they accepted a multi-party system, which was the SPA's prime concern. The SPA and the Maoists agreed to launch a peaceful mass movement against the monarchy.

Constituent Assembly, 2006–2015

On 26 April 2006, the king reinstated the dissolved parliament and formed a small government under the premiership of Girija Prasad Koirala, the president of the Nepali Congress. In November 2006, the government and the CPN-M signed a Comprehensive Peace Accord in India and the Nepalese Civil War formally ended.
On 24 September 2007, the Nepali Congress and Nepali Congress unified as a single party with the 2008 Constituent Assembly election looming. Following the first Madhesh movement, former deputy speaker and senior leader of the party Mahantha Thakur, who had led a committee that held talks with the Madheshi Jana Adhikar Forum, broke away and formed the Terai Madhesh Loktantrik Party with other Madheshi leaders. Girija Prasad Koirala remained president of the newly unified party. The party placed second with 110 out of 575 elected seats in the Constituent Assembly election, winning only half as many seats as CPN-M.
The party joined the coalition government headed by Madhav Kumar Nepal in May 2009. Girija Prasad Koirala angered some in the party by nominating his daughter Sujata Koirala to be Foreign Minister. In June, in a contested election for leader of the party's parliamentary group, Ram Chandra Poudel defeated Deuba. The 12th General Convention of the Nepali Congress was held in Kathmandu from 17 to 21 September 2010. The convention elected Sushil Koirala as the party president.
After the Constituent Assembly of Nepal was dissolved by Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai after failure to draft a new constitution before the deadline. In the resulting 2013 Constituent Assembly election, the party emerged as the largest party winning 196 of the 575 elected seats. Along with CPN, under the leadership of Sushil Koirala, they formed a new coalition government. The new Constitution of Nepal was promulgated under his leadership on 20 September 2015.

Federal Nepal, 2015–2025

Sushil Koirala resigned as prime minister on 10 October 2015 after losing support from CPN. Nepali Congress joined the government again in August 2016 under the leadership of Bimalendra Nidhi, after backing Pushpa Kamal Dahal to become prime minister. According to their agreement, Dahal resigned on 24 May 2017 paving the way for Deuba to become prime minister for a fourth time on 6 June 2017.
On 22 April 2017, the Akhanda Nepal Party led by Kumar Khadka joined the Nepali Congress ahead of the 2017 local elections. Nepali Congress won 11,456 seats including 266 mayoral or chairman positions. The party also won mayor posts in Lalitpur and Biratnagar. Ahead of the 2017 general and provincial elections|provincial] elections, Nepal Loktantrik Forum led by former Nepali Congress leader, Bijay Kumar Gachhadar merged into the party. Similarly, a group from Federal Socialist Forum, Nepal led by MP Abhishek Pratap Shah, a group from CPN (UML) led by MP Mohar Singh Rathore and Rabin Chaudhary, a goroup from Rastriya Janata Party Nepal led by MP Jangi Lal Ray, a group from CPN (Maoist Centre) led by former Minister and MP Sambhu Lal Shrestha joined the party ahead of the 2017 election.

2018–2022: 1st Federal Parliament

The party won 63 seats to the House of Representatives becoming the second largest party. The party could win only 23 seats under first past the post and many influential leaders including Ram Chandra Poudel, Ram Saran Mahat, Bimalendra Nidhi, Krishna Prasad Sitaula, and Arjun Narasingha K.C. lost in their constituencies. The party won 113 seats in provincial assemblies and became the largest opposition in six out of seven provinces. Following the 2018 National Assembly election, Deuba resigned as prime minister. Deuba was challenged for the leadership of the parliamentary party by Prakash Man Singh following a disappointing performance in the electionb but defeated his opponent 44–19.
Nepali Congress remained as the main opposition party until a split in the ruling Nepal Communist Party in 2021. The split occurred following an attempt to dissolve the House of Representatives. The party opposed the move and the decision was scrapped by the Supreme Court. Another attempt to dissolve the House of Representatives was quashed again by the Supreme Court and Nepali Congress president Sher Bahadur Deuba was appointed prime minister with the support of CPN (Maoist Centre) and CPN (Unified Socialist). The party also joined the provincial governments of Karnali, Province 2, Gandaki and Lumbini. The party headed governments in Gandaki and Karnali during this time.
The party held its 14th general convention from 13 to 15 December 2021. The party announced an active membership of 850,000 members and Sher Bahadur Deuba was re-elected as party president in the second round. The party elected Purna Bahadur Khadka and Dhanraj Gurung vice-presidents of the party, while Gagan Thapa and Bishwa Prakash Sharma were elected as general secretaries.

2022–2025: 2nd Federal Parliament

The party contested the 2022 elections with an alliance with their coalition partners CPN (Maoist Centre), CPN (Unified Socialist) and other smaller leftist parties. In the 2022 local elections, the party won executive head positions in 329 local units including in the metropolitan cities of Lalitpur and Biratnagar. In the general elections that followed, the party won a plurality of seats in the House of Representatives and in provincial assemblies of Bagmati, Gandaki, Karnali and Sudurpaschim.
The resulting government saw Congress in the opposition again following a breakdown in the alliance. Another alliance change saw Congress joining the coalition government of CPN (Maoist Centre) in March 2023 before again joining the opposition bench in March 2024. The party forged a deal with CPN (UML) on July 2024 to form a new coalition government under CPN.
The coalition government introduced a mandate to shut down social media for failing to register with the government which served as the trigger for the 2025 Gen Z protests. Following the death of 19 protestors as a result of the use of live ammunition, home minister Ramesh Lekhak from the party resigned, other ministers also resigned the next morning, but protestors vandalized the party headquarters and other local offices of the party across the country. Party president Sher Bahadur Deuba was assaulted at his residence along with his wife and foreign minister Arzu Rana Deuba. The houses of other leaders of the party were also vandalized and set ablaze. The government also resigned following the protests.

Ideology

The party was founded on the principle of democracy and socialism. In 1956, the party adopted democratic socialism as its ideology for socioeconomic transformation. Its foreign policy orientation was to nonalignment and good relations with India. After the end of the panchayat, subsequent governments under Nepali Congress launched pro-privatisation and liberalisation policies in the 1990s.

Organization

Central Organization

The National Convention remains the supreme body of Nepali Congress and it is organized every four years by the party's Central Committee. The national convention elects the party portfolios including the party chair, two deputy chairs, two general secretaries each along with eight deputy general secretaries from different cluster. It also elects central committee members. The convention also discusses and approves political documents, organizational proposals and amendments to the party constitution. The party has also provision for Central Working committee.

Provincial and local organization

Party committees exist at the provincial, district, constituency, local and ward level. All the level of committee holds a convention every four years. The party has distributed a number of rights at different levels per the current Constitution of Nepal. Nepali Congress stands as the only party to have conducted conventions at all levels since the promulgation of current constitution of Nepal. The convention elects the leadership and members of the committee which is the supreme decision making body in between conventions.

Electoral performance

Legislative elections


Leadership

Presidents

Vice-presidents

General secretaries

Sister organizations

According to the website of Nepali Congress, the following are its sister organizations.