Kathmandu. In the first general election held in 2015 BS, the Nepal Communist Party won only four seats. Nine parties and independent candidates competed for the 109-member House of Representatives, including the CPN.
At that time, the CPN, which had fielded candidates in only 47 constituencies, became the fourth largest party by securing a total of 129,142 votes.
The election results, which began on Falgun 7, 2015 BS, were announced on Baisakh 28, 2016 BS.
The CPN members elected were then Politburo member Tulsilal Amatya (Lalitpur Valley), Sheikh Farman (Rautahat Central), Hardayal Mahato (Rautahat North Dostiya), and Central Committee member Kamalraj Regmi (Palpa East). Amatya was elected with 7,959 votes, Farman with 4,984, Mahato with 5,250, and Regmi with 6,563 votes.
In that election, the Nepali Congress, which won 74 seats, or a two-thirds majority, had fielded candidates in only 108 constituencies. The Nepal Rashtriya Gorkha Parishad fielded 86 candidates, the United Democratic Party Nepal 86, the Nepal Praja Parishad (Plough-and-Spade) 46, the Nepal Praja Parishad (Harrow) 36, the Nepal Democratic Mahasabha 68, the Terai Congress 21, the Nepali National Congress 20, and 268 were independent candidates.
In that election, the Nepali Congress received 666,898 votes, while the Gorkha Parishad, which came in second, received 305,118 votes. The Gorkha Parishad won 19 seats. The United Democratic Party Nepal came third, receiving 177,408 votes and winning five seats. The CPN came fourth with 129,142 votes, winning four seats. At that time, the CPN secured 7.209 percent of the total valid votes.
The Praja Parishad (Plough-and-Spade) came fifth, receiving 53,038 votes and winning only 2 seats. The Praja Parishad (Harrow) received 59,820 votes and won one seat. The Nepal Democratic Mahasabha received 59,896 votes, the Terai Congress 36,107, and the Nepali National Congress 12,707 votes. None of these three parties won a single seat in the direct contest. Independents, who won a total of four seats, received 291,247 votes. Out of a total of 4,246,468 registered voters in that election, 1,791,381 votes were validated. A total of 786 candidates participated in the election.
The first meeting of the House of Representatives was held on Asar 16, 2016 BS. Based on the date of the first meeting, the parliament has been celebrating Parliament Day every year since then. However, the popularly elected parliament, formed after enduring a long transitional period, was dissolved by the then King Mahendra after 18 months, leading to the imposition of the autocratic Panchayat system.
Following a referendum in 2037 BS, the then King Birendra held elections for the National Panchayat in 2038 BS and 2043 BS under the name of the reformed Panchayat system. However, with the political change in 2046 BS, a general election was held in 2048 BS.
In that election, the Nepali Congress secured an absolute majority, the CPN-UML became the second largest party, and the United People's Front (the open front of the CPN-Unity Centre led by Prachanda) was established as the third political force.
However, due to internal strife within the Nepali Congress, the then Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala dissolved the parliament and announced mid-term elections in 2051 BS. After that election, the CPN-UML became the first party, while the Congress was reduced to second place. The United People's Front did not participate in that election, having withdrawn from parliamentary politics in preparation for a long-term people's war.
In the 2056 BS election, the Congress again secured a majority. However, the armed insurgency launched by the CPN (Maoist) in 2052 BS weakened the parliamentary system. The 12-point agreement reached in 2062 BS between the rebel Maoists and the seven parliamentary parties led to the overthrow of the traditional monarchy and the establishment of a Federal Democratic Republic in 2062/2063 BS. In the first Constituent Assembly election held in 2064 BS, the Maoists became the largest party. However, a constitution for the Federal Democratic Republic could not be drafted. The Constituent Assembly was dissolved on Jestha 14, 2069 BS.
In the second Constituent Assembly election held in 2070 BS, the Congress became the largest party, the UML second, and the Maoists third. A new constitution was promulgated on Ashoj 3, 2072 BS. Following the constitution, in the election held in 2074 BS, the then Leftist Alliance secured an overwhelming majority by forming an alliance between the UML and the Maoists. In that election, the UML became the first party, while the Congress was the second. The Maoists settled for the third position.
As per the prior agreement, the UML and the Maoists merged their parties on Jestha 3, 2075 BS to form the Nepal Communist Party. However, due to the power and authority struggle between the two chairmen, KP Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda', the NCP was dissolved on Falgun 23, 2077 BS. Following the Supreme Court's order, the UML and the CPN (Maoist Centre) returned to their former parties, and in the 2079 BS election, the Congress became the first party, followed by the UML as second and the Maoists as third.
However, before completing three years, the popularly elected parliament was dissolved due to the Jyanji movement on Bhadra 23 and 24. The election is scheduled for Falgun 21 at the most difficult juncture in history. In the 75 years since the establishment of democracy, the Communist Party has faced various ups and downs in the 10 elections held so far. The UML and the CPN (Maoist Centre) (now the Communist Party of Nepal), which contested elections in an alliance for 12 years, are now entering the electoral contest individually. The upcoming election will be a true test of the real strength of both these communist factions.
