Rabindra Nath Sharma (Nepali: रविन्द्रनाथ शर्मा) (died 22 November 2008^[1]) was a Nepalese politician, leader of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party^[2] and Minister of Finance of Nepal from 1997 to 1998. ^[3]

Sharma was one of the few Nepali leaders that continued to advocate for a Hindu constitutional monarchy after the Parliament scrapped the Kings major powers in June 2006. His advocacy provided a much-needed backbone to those calling for a Hindu state under a constitutional monarchy at a time when the communists were engaged in political and institutional capture. In January 2008 under Sharma's leadership RPP-Nepal organized the first mass protests against the Maoist's decision to declare Nepal a republic without a referendum^[4]

In October 2006 Sharma was “unanimously” elected the chairman of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP)-Nepal after Kamal Thapa quit the post^[5] Sharma is widely credited to have been an important political and moral force to keep the debate about future of Hinduism in a secular Republic alive. For this advocacy for a Hindu constitutional monarchy and against growing Christian proselytization, goons of the CPN-Maoists attacked Sharma and his followers in Bhitamode, Nepal and then Pokhara.^[6] In 2009, a few months after Sharma's death, the Unified Maoists-affiliated All Nepal Peasants' Organisation-Revolutionary (ANPO-R) attacked and seized is land in Nawalparasi.

Sharma's politics lead him to gain the soubriquet of ‘Chanakya’ of Nepalese politics.

References