Nepali Congress on verge of split, dissident group to elect new leader to replace Deuba

Kathmandu, Jan 13 (PTI) The Nepali Congress is on the verge of a split, less than two months ahead of the March 5 general election, as the dissident group of the party announced an election schedule to elect its new leader on Wednesday despite disapproval from party's president and former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba.

The dissident group of the party, led by general secretaries Gagan Thapa and Bishwo Prakash Sharma, continued its Special General Convention for the third day on Tuesday.

Originally a two-day event which started on Sunday in Bhrikutimandap, Kathmandu, the convention was extended till Tuesday.

Last week, a dispute arose about the special convention between the faction led by party president Deuba and the two general secretaries.

Deuba's faction was pressing for the regular 15th general convention in May after the March 5 general election, whereas Thapa and Sharma were pressing for the convention before the election.

The two general secretaries have argued that the convention was necessary to address the demands raised by the Gen Z youths and to revamp the party organisation before the election.

The election committee has already published the election schedule for the election of the new executive body of the party.

The voters list and candidates list have been finalised and the election is scheduled to start at 8 am on Wednesday, according to the election committee.

There are a total of 4,655 General Convention delegates in the party, who are eligible to cast their votes.

Though several rounds of talks were held between the establishment faction led by Deuba and the dissident group led by Thapa and Sharma on Monday and Tuesday, the meetings failed to bring about a negotiated settlement of the dispute.

According to Dinesh Tripathi, legal expert, the dissident faction has the authority to convene the Special Convention as they now have got support from 66 per cent or 3,130 members out of a total number of 4,655 delegates.

If the Special Convention elects a new executive body to replace the one led by Deuba, it could not be challenged legally, he added.

After the General Convention, the new executive body will replace the old one and Deuba will be automatically removed from the party's president's position, said Kiran Giri, general convention member and former central committee member of the party.

The party is likely to elect 49-year-old Gagan Thapa, incumbent general secretary, as the new president of the party, whom the dissident group wanted to project as the prime ministerial candidate.

Elections will be held for the posts of president, two vice presidents, two general secretaries, eight joint general secretaries and 121 central members, a total of 134 positions.

The March 5 elections were necessitated after K P Sharma Oli resigned on September 9 following violent protests by a youth-led Gen Z group against his government over corruption and a ban on social media. PTI SBP GSP GSP