The key political party railing against the secular federal republican set-up, the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) has decided to hold a protest in Kathmandu on April 8.

The party also decided on its own plan for demonstration and protest in favour of the restoration of the Hindu state, constitutional monarchy, directly elected prime minister, and abolition of the federal system of governance. However, it will extend support to similar demonstrations and protests aligned with the party's agenda.

With this decision, the party has distanced itself from another group of pro-Hindu royalist leaders headed by 86-year-old Nawaraj Subedi, a staunch supporter of monarchy who is in charge of new protests in coordination with controversial medical college operator Durga Prasai, Chairman of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal Kamal Thapa, Rama Singh, and Keshar Bahadur Bista, among others.

RPP leaders such as Rabindra Mishra and Dhawal Shumsher Rana had expressed reservations over the party’s stance. They want the party to fully support and participate in the protest to be organised by the Subedi-led group.

The discord among the pro-royalist forces is evident, said multiple leaders from the different camps. The RPP wants to lead the movement but when former king Gyanendra Shah chose Subedi to steer the struggle for the restoration of Hindu state and monarchy, differences within the camp surfaced.

Due to personal egos, some royalists are looking to become the new leader especially after seeing growing support from the public in favour of monarchy, campaign supporters say. The way the RPP and the Subedi-led camp held separate meetings on Tuesday has made observers suspect serious differences between them.

“Some top leaders still do not trust the other and want to be the leader themself. Discord in the RPP is due to the belief in some that the movement should be under the political leadership, a political party. It should not be led by non-political figures,” an RPP central committee member said.

“We will extend support to those parties, groups and camps that have objectives similar to RPP’s,” said one RPP leader. Any protest or demonstration or showdown should be led by a political party, not an individual leader, the leader added.

“If we look at history, it was political parties who overthrew the Rana regime, Panchayat system and monarchy. Therefore, if we want to reestablish the Hindu state and monarchy together, we need active support of the political parties within the democratic framework,” the RPP leader said.

According to RPP leaders, their cadres, if interested, can join the protest led by Subedi but the party’s top and senior leaders will not participate.

On the other hand, the Subedi-led group will hold continuous demonstrations from April 2, said Engina Karki, an active campaigner for reviving the monarchy. The camp also held a meeting on Tuesday and decided to welcome all kinds of supporters whose agenda align with theirs. “We will pause the movement for some days after March 28,” said Karki.

Prasai, a key architect of the March 28 pro-monarchy and pro-Hindu state protest in Kathmandu, is believed to be a crowd puller. He is active under the banner of Nagarik Bachau Abhiyan (Save the citizen campaign).

“Actually our protest began today,” said RPP President Rajendra Lingden, after a meeting of the party's protest coordination committee on Tuesday. The Subedi camp’s protest on Friday clashes with a public rally of the Socialist Front, an alliance of the leftist parties.

The RPP will hold regular protests from April 20, said Lingden. “We have decided to launch a continuous, Capital-centric movement from April 20. On April 8, a Bagmati Province-level protest and gathering will be organised in Kathmandu,” the RPP chief added.

Lingden said the RPP would support any movement in favour of the monarchy and Hindu state and against federalism. "No matter who protests in favour of monarchy and Hindu nation, and against federalism, it must be peaceful and we will support it," Lingden stated.

He clarified that the party has left the door open for cooperation to take the movement forward. "From today, the RPP is fully engaged in the movement," Lingden said.

The meeting is said to have discussed the party's policy vis-a-vis protests. “If there is the need to cooperate with others, the door for cooperation should remain open. At the same time, we will continue to advance our own programmes," said the RPP chairman.

The RRP-Nepal led by Thapa also decided to extend moral support to any political party or group that supports the agenda of restoration of monarchy and Hindu state. Thapa also expressed the party’s readiness for unification or collaboration with such parties or camps.

Thapa, however, is not interested in any protest or demonstration that highlights the flag and banner of one particular party. “We will only participate in a movement where the national flag and a common banner are used,” Thapa clarified on Tuesday.