Hammer, sickle and the political tickle

Nepal's Communist movement was founded on the revolutionary legacy of young Nepalis who fought against the dynastic and autocratic Rana regime.

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Pushpalal Shrestha, who established Nepal's first communist party, was inspired by the disbanded outfit Nepal Praja Parishad. Shrestha's brother Gangala was among Parishad's founding members, who was killed by the regime when he was only 22 years old. Pushpalal established the Nepal Communist Party while studying in India, along with other Nepali political activists like Nara Bahadur Karmacharya and Niranjan Govinda Baidhya.

The NCP was established in the post-World War II era, when the Soviet Union defeated Nazi Germany, and Mao Tse-tung had established the People's Republic of China. Despite its popularity among Nepali youths, the party was legally banned from mainstream Nepali politics until 1956, when the party accepted the constitutional monarchy and participated in the parliamentary elections.

After King Mahendra captured power in December 1960, the Nepali communist movement was polarised between the radical bloc that was opposed to the constitutional monarchy and the less radical bloc that decided to engage politically for reform.