Founded on 2 June 1990 in West Bengal,[1] it was the pioneer political party in Bhutan.

The Bhutan Peoples' Party was founded to represent the Nepali citizens of Bhutan, who felt discriminated against by the Bhutanese monarchy and under-represented in the institutions of the country.

[1] The Bhutan Peoples' Party was involved in the organization of mass protest rallies in the south of the country in September and October 1990 in peaceful rallies; the party was declared illegal by the absolute monarch and banned from the country along with other parties formed during the same period.

[1][2] On September 9, 2001, party founder and first leader R.K. Budathoki was assassinated in a small town called Damak that lies in Jhapa district of eastern Nepal and a few miles away from Beldangi refugee camps.

[1] Still in exile in Nepal, the Bhutan Peoples' Party asked to be registered as a political party when the Bhutanese government first introduced a multiparty system.