Nepal Communist Party

The Communist Party of Nepal, abbreviated CPN, was a communist party in Nepal from 1949 to 1962. It was founded on 15 September 1949 to struggle against the autocratic Rana regime, feudalism, and imperialism. The founding general secretary was Pushpa Lal Shrestha. The founding members of the Communist Party of Nepal were Moti Devi Shrestha, Niranjan Govinda Vaidya, Nar Bahadur Karmacharya and Narayan Bilas Joshi. History Formation and early years, 1949–1951 The party was formed by Pushpa Lal Shrestha, a former member of the Nepali National Congress, who had grown disillusioned with the infighting in the party and the willingness to cooperate and make concessions with the Ranas. After his resignation from the Nepali National Congress–which would later become the Nepali Congress–he had been inspired by Marxist literary criticism and in April 1949 published a translated version of The Communist Manifesto in the Nepali language. There were initial plans to work within the Nepali National Congress as a leftist group or organize as a workers-peasants party but this was eventually scrapped. Shrestha who was in Kolkata at the time joined the Marxist Study Circle in Campbell Medical School. Keshar Jung Rayamajhi who was studying at Campbell and Man Mohan Adhikari who was studying in Benaras at the time were also members of the group. On 22 April 1949, Pushpa Lal became the secretary of an organizing committee which was to become the Communist Party of Nepal. The members of the organizing committee at the time were Moti Devi Shrestha, Niranjan Govinda Vaidya, Nar Bahadur Karmacharya and Narayan Bilas Joshi.