Nepal’s political parties are still responding to the major pro-monarchy demonstration held in Kathmandu on March 9. Amid this, the main ruling coalition partner Nepali Congress held a meeting of its office bearers and former office bearers on Tuesday and decided to convene a Central Working Committee meeting on Sunday to discuss the recent pro-monarchy activities.

The Congress’ decision comes after a group of opposition parties organised under the banner of ‘Socialist Front Nepal’ decided to hold a protest against the royalists in Kathmandu on March 28.

“We discussed how we could build more unity regarding the federal republic and the constitution,” Bimalendra Nidhi, a former vice-president of Nepali Congress, said. “The Central Working Committee meeting will decide on the rest.”

Meanwhile, another ruling partner CPN-UML, which Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli heads, has stated that any attempt to reverse the democratic republic of Nepal would be unsuccessful.

During the party’s secretariat meeting on Monday, the UML lambasted the recently organised pro-monarchy activities, saying they aim to undermine the democratic republic and the Constitution of Nepal.

Reading the meeting’s decisions, Pradeep Gyawali, a deputy general secretary of the UML, emphasised the party’s concern about attempts to challenge the democratic republic. He said that the current political system cannot be reversed, and any move to roll back the country into a monarchical system would not succeed.

The establishment of a democratic republic is a product of the seven-decade-long sacrifice of the Nepali people, Gyawali said after the meeting. “Any attempt to undo the people’s decision and push the country backward will not succeed,” he said. “The Constitution of Nepal was adopted after realising that monarchy, which repeatedly attacked the rights of the people and leaned towards autocracy, could not coexist with democracy.”

The CPN-UML also condemned the debate on reviving the hereditary monarchy in the 21st century, labelling it “absurd, harmful, and pointless.”

Meanwhile, a group of pro-monarchy leaders on Monday formed a joint movement committee headed by the 87-year-old Panchayat-era leader Nabaraj Subedi. The group is considering organising a mass protest from March 28 against the present political system.

Similarly, Congress leader and Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak has stated that around 13,000 people were present to welcome the former king on March 9, according to a Congress leader present in Tuesday’s meeting.

After completing a three-month-long tour of western districts, former King Gyanendra Shah returned to Kathmandu from Pokhara on March 9; the deposed king was welcomed by a large crowd gathered at Tribhuvan International Airport.

On February 18, on the eve of Democracy Day, Shah had remarked that the country was at a historically critical juncture and urged people to support him in “saving the nation”.

Shah’s speech apparently inspired the pro-monarchy forces to organise the demonstration.

Nidhi says that even though the constitution ensures the right to protest, it does not mean the government should be indifferent to voices raised against the system.

But the idea of reinstating the Hindu kingdom has backers in Nidhi’s own party.

At the Congress Mahasamiti meeting held in February last year, of the 1,815 present, a majority—1,015 members—signed in favour of reinstating Nepal as a Hindu state. Additionally, 45 central committee members of the party also expressed their support for the idea.

“We have collected signatures in favour of legitimising Nepal as a Hindu state during the Mahasamiti meeting,” said Shankar Bhandari, a Congress leader who is leading the campaign within the party to reinstate Nepal as a Hindu state. “Despite the majority of Mahasamiti members being in favour of it, the party has yet to take necessary steps.”

Bhandari emphasised that the party should pay serious attention to the growing public demand for a Hindu state and monarchy, particularly in light of recent large-scale protests. “Our party should give enough consideration to public demand,” Bhandari said.

Bhandari questioned the logic of working alongside the communist forces that officially list the Congress as their primary political adversary. “The communist parties of Nepal, in their official documents, mention Congress as their prime enemy,” he said. “How could our party cooperate with them?”

But a Congress office bearer says that the party is unlikely to back the reinstatement of a Hindu kingdom. “The party has already moved on from the Hindu state agenda,” the office bearer said, requesting anonymity. “There is no point discussing it further.”