Communist Party of Nepal (Amatya)

Communist Party of Nepal, also referred to as Communist Party of Nepal (Amatya) was a communist party in Nepal. It emerged out of a split in the original Communist Party of Nepal in 1962. The Communist Party of Nepal had been ravaged by internal conflicts, due to the Sino-Soviet split and differences of how to relate to political changes in the country.

In April 1962 the radical sector of the Communist Party of Nepal convened a 3rd party convention in Varanasi, India. But the preparation of the congress had been full of controversy. The congress approved the programme of National Democratic Revolution proposed by Tulsi Lal Amatya, and elected Tulsi Lal as general secretary. In an attempt to maintain the unity of the party, Pushpa Lal Shrestha and Tulsi Lal were to share central leadership responsibilities. Keshar Jung Rayamjhi, the leader of the pro-Soviet faction of CPN was expelled. However, the Rayamajhi-led section did not recognize the convention. Rayamjhi's followers contiuned to function as a separate party, also using the name Communist Party of Nepal.

However, between Amatya and Pushpa Lal there were political differences. Amatya favoured the idea of 'National Democracy' whereas Pushpa Lal advocated the line of 'People's Democracy'. From 1963 onwards, the two worked separately.^[1] In 1968 the section of Pushpa Lal organized a separate convention in Gorakhpur, India. This led to the founding of a separate party, with Pushpa Lal as general secretary. The majority of the party leadership followed Pushpa Lal in joining his splinter-group. This party became known as Communist Party of Nepal (Pushpa Lal).

In 1971 a group of CPN leaders (Manmohan Adhikari, Shambhu Ram and Mohan Bikram Singh) were released from jail. They formed the Central Nucleus, which tried to unify with Pushpa Lal's group. That unity proved impossible and the Central Nucleus gave way to new parties. Adhikari formed his own CPN, Communist Party of Nepal (Manmohan). This party developed close relations to the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)). Singh's group became known as Communist Party of Nepal (Fourth Convention).

The Amatya-led Communist Party was reduced to become one of many clandestine communist factions in Nepal, and it was radily outgrown by several of its splinter-groups. The party was generally identified as part of the pro-Soviet Union stream within the Nepalese communist movement, although it maintained some independence towards Moscow.

In 1989 the party took part in the formation of the United Left Front, to struggle against the autocratic regime. Following the overthrow of the regime and the democratic opening, the party contested the 1991 parliamentary election. The party put up 14 candidates, who together mustered 4846 votes. None of the candidates of the party were elected.

Soon after the 1991 general election the party had merged itself with two other groups to form the Communist Party of Nepal (United). However, that unity turned short-lived. Tulsi Lal Amatya broke away from CPN(United) and reconstituted his own party. In 1994 CPN(Amatya) joined the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist).

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