Nepal: Congress leader Shankar Bhandari to hold discussions with other parties to declare country as Hindu Rashtra

The Nepali Congress will hold discussions with other parties and work to declare Nepal a Vedic Sanatan Hindu state, parliament member and party member Shankar Bhandari said. In an interview with an Indian Media agency, Shankar Bhandari, who has been leading Vedic Sanatan Hindu Rashtra establishment campaign within the Nepali Congress claimed reinstatement of the Hindu State would be a course correction in Nepal politics.

“What we believe, attempt and request with all existing parties in the Federal Parliament would hold discussion with them. We also have been informed that the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) is also worried about increasing conversion and it is counter-productive. We should all work together for Vedic Sanatan Hinduism, other parities have also noticed this and we are confident about it,” Bhandari said.

He further said that they will soon start a national debate over it and hold discussions with political parties adding that they need a two-third majority to declare a Hindu State. “As per our constitutional provision, we need a two third majority to declare a Hindu state; serious error which was made at the time of promulgation of the constitution, intentional or out of ignorance, we should not be late to rectify the errors, we are determined on it. We will soon start a national debate over it and hold conversations with political parties, he said.

The campaign launched by Bhandari gained popularity during the five-day Maha Samiti meeting held in Lalitpur on February 19, 2024.  Bhandari’s campaign to collect signatures to pressure the party’s top leaders managed to get signatures of about 1100 participants out of the 1950 designated members of the Maha Samiti meeting.

During the concluding session, of the party mass meeting, Bhandari submitted the collected signatures to Party president Sher Bahadur Deuba, who then promised to take the issues to the Central Committee Meeting. Among those 42 signatories are the central members of the Nepal’s largest party in the parliament, which includes former General Secretary Shashank Koirala.

However, the agenda for the Hindu nation was deliberated upon during the Maha Samiti Meeting. After the 2006 Peoples Movements, Nepal has reinstated democracy overthrowing centuries old monarchies. In successive years, it became a republican nation and adopted a new democratic and republican constitution in September 2015.

After the overthrow of the monarchy in the Himalayan nation, the leader rejected the claims and said, “it came on a practice from the past, but there is no mention of the king worshipped as God in any scripture, there were different theorists and polices regarding it.  He further said that since the 16th century Hinduism in Nepal has been targeted.

“Since the 16th century, the eternal Hinduism of Nepal has continued to remain as a target, as per my knowledge. There have been attempts to hinder it by linking it with monarchy, the intervention of foreign nations and raising tensions alleging it to be against ethnic groups. We already have taken note of this and we will hold ground level discussion in case it is needed, explain to all, in between the political parties and make them clear that it is not against aby ethnic group or personal freedom,” he added.

Notably, the demands for a Hindu state have been rising in Nepal, as other parties have also continued to stage protests and agitations demanding the re-instatement of th religious identity of the nation. The Rashtra Prajatantra Party, a pro-monarchy faction has also launched their campaign for Hindu state, with reinstatement of monarchy as their demand.

Congress leader Bhandari clarified that his party would support the demands of the Hindu state but not constitutional monarchy to achieve the aim. During the previous Mahasamiti meeting, 714 individuals expressed their support for a Hindu nation by signing a petition which was then submitted to the party president.

Additionally, the 22 central members presented their signatures to President Deuba urging for the inclusion of the Hindu nation agenda in Mahasamiti meeting discussions. Moreover, Hinduism is the most followed religion in the Himalayan nation which stands at 81 percent out of the total population that is 2,64,578 as per the census of 2021. Similarly, 23,93, 549 people, that is 8.1 percent follow Buddhism, 5.09 percent follow Islam, 3.17 follow Kirant and 1.76 percent practice Christianity.