Rastriya Prajatantra Party Central Member Hikmat Jung Karki Resigns

Kathmandu. Hikmat Jung Karki, a Central Member of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), has resigned from both his central membership and general membership of the party, expressing dissatisfaction with the leadership's decisions and working style.

Following RPP's decision to field former chairman Kamal Thapa as the candidate for Kathmandu-5, Karki accused the leadership under Chairman Rajendra Lingden of focusing on personal interests and power-sharing "settings." He alleged that despite the regional committee recommending the names of young and capable leaders, the leadership sidelined them all to give a ticket to Kamal Thapa, who has already served as a minister nine times, indicating arbitrariness and invisible "settings" within the party.

In a statement issued by Karki, he wrote: "The type of arbitrariness shown in the distribution of tickets for Kathmandu Constituency No. 5 for the upcoming election has dealt a major blow to the party's methods and the spirit of youth leadership. 

While the regional committee recommended young and capable leaders including myself, Navin Khadka, and Hemjung Gurung, the Chairman's intentions were made clear by sidelining everyone to give the ticket to Kamal Thapa, who has been a minister nine times and recently claimed to have joined the party unconditionally."

He mentioned that although the RPP is a historical party carrying the core agenda of restoring the Hindu state and monarchy, it has been weakening recently due to the leadership's lack of foresight. He stated that although leadership was handed over to Lingden during the last general convention with expectations from the youth generation, those expectations have not been met.

He further claimed that putting forward leaders who have already failed in parliamentary politics will negatively impact the party's future. According to Karki, during the movement on Chaitra 15, the drafting and lobbying process for the statement issued by the 'International Democratic Union' in favor of restoring the monarchy was done through his initiative. 

However, he accused the leadership of a tendency to shine their own names using others' contributions and compromising with forces opposed to their agenda.

Concluding that it is impossible to serve the country and the people while remaining under a leadership characterized by factionalism and double standards, Karki announced that he will no longer be limited within the boundaries of any party and will move forward independently according to the feelings of the youth and the spirit of the 'Gen Z' movement.