Nepali Congress Deuba faction prepares for parallel general convention

KATHMANDU:- Amid the ongoing general convention process of the Nepali Congress, the faction led by former President Sher Bahadur Deuba has expressed its disagreement and is actively organizing a parallel general convention.

Claiming that their demand—to halt the ongoing delegate selection process for the general convention scheduled in Kathmandu from October 2 to 5 and instead hold a joint convention based on dialogue and consensus—was ignored, this faction has also begun preparations for the convention, complete with its own schedule. Asserting that the working committee elected during the 14th General Convention remains the legitimate one, the Deuba-aligned faction has not participated in the ongoing convention process initiated by the establishment faction.

Dr. Shashank Koirala, coordinator of that faction, stated that ward-level conventions would begin on October 1, with the decision to hold the 15th General Convention in Kathmandu from December 7 to 9. The Deuba faction has announced that ward conventions will commence this coming Thursday and that election coordinators have been appointed for 56 districts for this purpose.

Disregarding the demands of the faction that argued against holding the general convention while the dispute over the party’s official status remained sub judice at the Supreme Court, the establishment faction—which had plunged into the delegate selection process starting on September 19—is now engaged in final preparations for the 15th General Convention.

Meanwhile, leader Dr. Prakash Sharan Mahat informed that the Central Membership Management Committee, formed by the Deuba faction for the upcoming general convention, has submitted the details of active memberships to the Central Election Committee.

It was reported that Kiran Raj Sharma Paudel, Coordinator of the Active Membership Management Committee, handed over the active membership details to Ekraj Pokharel, Coordinator of the Election Committee, on Saturday.

Coordinator Paudel informed that the details of active memberships distributed and renewed up to the 9th of Ashwin have been submitted to the Election Committee, and that the total number of members stands at 783,836.

He stated, “Of these, 573,369 are renewed memberships and 210,667 are new active memberships.”

Coordinator Paudel said, “Previously, when the party entrusted this responsibility to General Secretary Gagan Thapa, problems arose because the active membership process was not concluded on time; however, after Sher Bahadur Deuba assigned the task to me, I finalized it within the deadline and have already handed it over. Now, the General Convention will take place on schedule; there are no issues regarding this.”

Similarly, Deuba group leader Dr Mahat said, “We wanted to hold a unity convention within the party, we have tried until the end for this and have tried by keeping all doors open. But since it was not possible, we have started preparations in emergency mode.”