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The government of Nepal provided humanitarian relief materials for the people of Afghanistan on Sunday.

Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nepal Sewa Lamsal handed over the humanitarian assistance containing medicines, garments, and household items to Dr Ramiz Alakbarov, Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan amid a program organized at the Kabul Airport today, read a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

Earlier this morning, the Government of Nepal had sent a chartered aircraft with humanitarian relief materials for the people of Afghanistan from the people of Nepal.

Foreign Minister Narayan Khadka led the efforts in realizing the humanitarian assistance as a goodwill gesture of the people of Nepal. Economic hardship and harsh winter weather in Afghanistan necessitated humanitarian assistance and support from the international community to the people of Afghanistan, the statement read.

Private sector apex bodies, organizations, and individuals including the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Nepal Chamber of Commerce, the Confederation of Nepalese Industries, Honorary Consular Corps- Nepal, Agrawal Sewa Kendra, and Himalaya Airlines extended their generous hands in support of the mission.

The Nepal government has urged India to stop construction or extension of roads in Lipulekh of Nepal.

Speaking at a press conference organised at the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, government spokesperson and Minister for Communication and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki said that the government is committed to resolve the border issue with India through diplomatic channels.

He said that the government of Nepal is clear on the fact that Limpiyadhura, Lipulekh and Kalapani are integral parts of Nepal.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a programme a few days ago had said that the Indian government has been constructing a road to Mansarovar of China through Lipulekh of Nepal.

Ruling coalition Nepali Congress, CPN (Maoist Centre) and CPN (Unified Socialist) have already expressed their dissatisfaction over the remarks of Indian Prime Minister Modi.

In line with the inclusive principles enshrined in the Constitution of Nepal 2015, the three major political parties—in their recently held general conventions—included cluster-wise inclusion in their central committees (CCs). Yet while the inclusive principles were applied in selection of lower-level leaders, top positions continued to be in the hands of the traditional elite groups.

In its eighth general convention, CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ admitted that inclusion compulsions had prolonged the party’s central committee selection. “Our inclusion system has drawbacks, and it has mostly to do with our policies,” he said before announcing the new central committee. Dahal claimed the party didn’t find a single Muslim woman to be inducted in the CC. The party, however, has tried to include more youths as each gender-ethnicity group has a youth component.

Other political parties have a similar story. CPN-UML has its new cluster named ‘[Kathmandu] valley special’ yet two of the members elected in it were from outside the Kathmandu Valley. The party doesn’t have a single person living with disability in its CC. Nor do any of the major parties have members representing the LGBTIQA+ community.

Unlike the Maoist and the UML, the Nepali Congress held elections for the party’s Central Working Committee and the candidacies contending for leadership were in consonance with the clusters. But the inclusion of privileged candidates like Arzu Deuba from the women’s quota, Binod Chaudhary from the Madhesi quota, and Umesh Shrestha from Janajati quota came to be widely criticized.

The conventions also brought many political couples to the respective central committees, which was essentially a triumph of nepotism over inclusion. Reservations and quotas are clearly meant to lift the marginalized groups, not for the elevation of the already dominant groups.

According to the constitution, women are marginalized on a gender basis, Madhesis and Janajatis on a cultural basis, Dalit on a caste basis, and remote areas on a geographical basis, and inclusion should be made proportional to their respective population shares. Therefore, UML should have had at least 100 Janajati members in the CC, as Janajati are 36 percent of Nepal’s population—but that is not the case. All the major parties are led by Khas-Arya males who seem to see inclusion as a danger to their traditional hold over power.

Political elites continue to be exclusionary

Tula Narayan Shah
Political analyst

Even after various political movements in Nepal that championed the agenda of inclusion, things have not changed much. During the Panchayat period, Chhetris used to be political party leaders and Brahmins their advisors, now Brahmins are the leaders with Chhetris are right behind them. The tendency is not to recognize leaders from the marginalized groups as national leaders.

Nepal adopted the inclusion policy by relying on the Interim Constitution 2007, which provided for reservation in the bureaucracy, increased electoral constituencies and revised the election process. Yet the state is yet to take ownership of these agenda. Unless the elite class becomes more accommodative, change is difficult, as demonstrated by the recent party conventions. What happened was, basically, those in power used inclusion principles to cement their own hold.

Personality, wit, charm, charisma. These are among the attributes voters look for in leaders of political parties they are thinking of supporting. That is why, when parties head into elections, they announce the names of their prospective prime minister candidates. 

Ahead of the 14th General Convention of Nepali Congress, there were suggestions that the party should select its new leader such that he or she would be capable of taking on a heavyweight like CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli in upcoming elections.

Many in the party were in favor of replacing Sher Bahadur Deuba as party chair after the NC’s humiliating outing in the 2017 elections. Deuba, they reckoned, had lost his mass appeal. In the recent general convention, the likes of Shekhar Koirala, Prakash Man Singh and Bimalendra Nidhi had challenged Deuba for party presidency by making the same argument. 

Yet Deuba won the party presidency again—and comfortably. This again ignited a debate if he would be more of a liability rather than an asset heading into elections. But when youth leaders like Gagan Thapa, Bishwa Prakash Sharma, Dhanaraj Gurung, Badri Pandey and Jiwan Pariwar were elected office-bearers, alongside Deuba, many felt the party had already been rebranded. 

Says political analyst Geja Sharma Wagle, the victory of Thapa and Sharma as General Secretaries has created excitement not only in the party but also among the masses. “They will be NC’s poster boys in NC’s election campaigns. Many neutrals are likely to vote for Congress because of their presence,” says Wagle.

Also read: Can Dahal again revive the Maoist party? 

Kalyan Gurung, NC Central Working Committee (CWC) member, also reckons the new set of leaders will boost the party’s image during the upcoming elections. “What the general convention also showed is that party representatives from across the country still feel Deuba is best placed to win elections for Nepali Congress,” says Gurung, who had also contested party presidency at the convention. 

Even though there is a strong presence of youth leaders in the party’s 15-member officer-bearer team, there are doubts about its effective functioning. Most elected youths are from anti-Deuba camps and they have repeatedly clashed with Deuba on national and party issues.

A senior NC leader requesting anonymity argues the new team under Deuba is better than the previous one. “Deuba can manage election funds while our youth leaders are good orators and visionaries,” he says. But on possible electoral alliance with other parties, Deuba and youth leaders are already at odds. Youth leaders are against any such alliance, while Deuba believes such an alliance is vital to ward off a grand alliance among left parties.

Says NC youth leader and analyst Shankar Tiwari, the presence of young faces as the party’s office-bearers will create a new vibe in the party’s election campaign. “Leaders such as Thapa, Sharma, Dhan Raj Gurung and Badri Pandey can rouse the masses. They are seen as principled politicians as well,” says Tiwari.

Party leaders say Deuba’s re-election does not necessarily mean that he is the only face of NC in the elections. Deuba, who has already become prime minister five times, can still project a new leader as a prime minister to pull voters. 

NC has done something similar in the past. For example, in the 1999 parliamentary elections, then party President Girija Prasad Koirala projected Krishna Prasad Bhattarai as future prime minister. The party secured parliamentary majority and Bhattarai became prime minister. 

Also read: 2021: A year of politicization of democracy 

“To win elections, Deuba should be pushed to project a new face as prime minister,” says Tiwari. Many in and outside NC say Gagan Thapa should be projected as prime minister. But getting Deuba to agree to that arrangement would be nigh-impossible. 

Deuba plans on becoming prime minister again if the NC reemerges as the largest party. “In that case, the situation in the party will favor Deuba,” says the aforementioned senior NC leader. 

As senior leaders like Ram Chandra Poudel, Prakash Man Singh and Bimalendra Nidhi have already thrown their lot with Deuba, Shekhar Koirala is the only leader who can take on Deuba. 

Over the past five years, Thapa has continuously lobbied for Deuba’s removal as party president. But after his election as general secretary, Thapa is in no mood to confront Deuba. Instead, he wants to move ahead by closely working with Deuba. 

Says NC leader Gurung: “Deuba, the five-time PM, is a towering personality who has won his parliamentary constituency every time since 1990. His personality will dominate other office-bearers and CWC members.”

Adds Nainsingh Mahar, another Congress CWC member, “Deuba has all the attributes you need to win elections. His first priority will be to keep the party united heading into national elections. He knows a divided party doesn’t win.”