Nepali Congress

Two rival factions of the Nepali Congress on Tuesday proposed different dates for the party’s 15th general convention at the ongoing central working committee meeting. The establishment faction led by Sher Bahadur Deuba has proposed holding the general convention after the parliamentary elections scheduled for March 5, while the rival faction led by general secretaries Gagan Thapa and Bishwa Prakash Sharma, along with leader Shekhar Koirala, has proposed holding the convention before the elections. The interim government formed after the anti-corruption Gen Z movement and the subsequent ouster of the KP Sharma Oli-led administration in September has scheduled the snap election for March 5 next year—almost two years ahead of schedule. On behalf of the rival faction, Thapa proposed holding the party general convention from December 31 to January 3. He insisted that the general convention must be held before the elections. “We have no luxury of going to the elections without holding the general convention because today’s Nepal is not the same as it was before the Gen Z movement of September 8 and 9,” Thapa said. At least 76 people, mostly youths, were killed during the unrest, mostly as a result of a brutal government crackdown. “We have to elect a new leadership that will be beneficial to the party in the upcoming elections. Otherwise, the elections will not benefit the party. We led several political movements in the past but the Gen Z movement was against us, against the Nepali Congress too. So the general convention is an excellent platform to connect with the people, and we must hold it at any cost before the elections,” Thapa said. “People have many questions for us and if we cannot answer them, voters will act accordingly in the elections.” After several rounds of talks, back-channel negotiations, and gathering of the separate groups and camps, the two rival factions of the party have finally proposed two different dates for the general convention, which is expected to change the party’s leadership. The four-year term of the incumbent central working committee expires in mid-December. But as per the party charter, a year can be added for all its elected bodies.