RPP Faces a Major Internal Shake-Up as 183 Leaders and Cadres Announce Mass Exit
A sweeping resignation led by Dhawal Shamsher Rana has sent shockwaves through Nepal’s Rastriya Prajatantra Party, marking one of its most significant internal ruptures in recent years.
The Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) is confronting a major internal crisis after General Secretary Dhawal Shamsher Rana and 182 other leaders and cadres announced their collective resignation on Thursday. The group, which includes Vice-Chairman Mukunda Shyam Giri and former minister Dilnath Giri, said it was severing ties with the party in a coordinated first phase of departure.
A coordinated walkout
According to the reports, the resignations were announced through a joint statement during a gathering in Kathmandu, underscoring the scale and organization of the breakaway move. The mass exit is notable not only for its size but also for the fact that it involves senior figures with party visibility and political experience.
This latest rupture adds to a pattern of high-profile departures from the RPP in recent years. Previous exits have included senior leaders such as Rabindra Mishra, who resigned from all party responsibilities, and Prakash Chandra Lohani, who quit and announced plans to form a new political party.
Why this matters for the party
The RPP has long occupied a distinctive place in Nepal’s political landscape, with roots in royalist and Hindu nationalist politics. A departure on this scale can weaken internal cohesion, complicate leadership messaging, and raise questions about the party’s direction at a time when it is already navigating ideological and organizational tensions.
For a party that often depends on disciplined cadres and recognizable leadership figures, the loss of a large bloc of organizers and office bearers can have immediate effects on mobilization, local networks, and public confidence.
What comes next
The statement described the resignations as the first phase of the exit, suggesting that the political fallout may not be over. That raises the possibility of further defections, factional realignment, or even the emergence of a new political grouping if the departing leaders choose to coordinate beyond this announcement.
For now, the RPP is left to absorb one of the sharpest internal jolts in its recent history, with the scale of the departure signaling a serious test of party unity and future relevance.