It is high time that the NC reformed itself. A cohort of youth leaders have already been meeting on a daily basis to brainstorm ideas to secure its traditional political bases before they are swooped away by the RSP.
It is probably for the first time in the history of NC, an emergent political force—and not its traditional rival, CPN-UML—has posed more threat to the party. While the NC is still the largest party in federal parliament, it no longer has the luxury to stay content. The electoral verdict of last month’s by-election in Tanahun-1 is a clear indication that NC’s traditional voters, let alone the new and young ones, have had enough of the party. The party has been riven by factionalism and favoritism, while internal democratic practice has long since been abandoned. Earlier, people who held liberal democratic values supported the NC because there was no other viable alternative force. Now, there are clear signs that scores of former Congress sympathizers see their future in the RSP. When Swarnim Wagle, a noted economist and former NC member, left the party to join the RSP, he shared his frustration of working under the current leadership of Congress. He even went so far as to accuse NC leader Sher Bahadur Deuba and his wife Arzu Rana of promoting favoritism in the party. Wagle went on to win the by-election in Tanahun-1 as an RSP candidate with a wide margin against the NC candidate. While Wagle’s departure from the Congress stirred many young and thinking party supporters to question their political loyalty, his impressive electoral win has convinced them to break ties with the party for good. If social media opinions are any indicator, a sizable section of NC supporters is now inclined toward the RSP due to the Wagle factor. This shift is not limited to the urban areas. The RSP’s impact is reverberating in rural parts of Nepal as well. According to one senior Congress leader, scores of party members could defect to the RSP by the next election season. He fears the NC will lose most of its young members and voters if the party fails to reform itself, both at the central leadership and fringe levels. For the first time, according to some NC leaders, Deuba has realized the need to overhaul the party. He has proposed revitalizing the party’s sister organizations which have become more or less defunct due to factional rivalry. But the dysfunctional NC sister wings is only one aspect that the party needs fixing. To prevent young and competent party members from quitting the party, Deuba also recently appointed Minendra Rijal as a Central Working Committee (CWC) member. But Rijal’s appointment is a tiny consolation for the young party members. There is a chronic frustration inside the NC over Deuba’s working style. There are growing calls that there should be a change in the party's leadership through a special general convention. Deuba, meanwhile, refuses to budge. The Congress leader had faced a similar call when the party faced drubbing in the 2017 general elections. Again, his failure to keep the electoral alliance intact following the general elections of last year had also caused the party members to call for his resignation. But Deuba succeeded to maintain his grip in the leadership after he managed to break the coalition between CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Center) and take the Congress party to the government as a ruling alliance member. Deuba continues to hold a strong sway in the party’s central committee, which is why he has, time and again, managed to come on top, despite all the political blunders he has made so far as the Congress party leader. The party has yet to convene its CWC meeting to reflect on the outcome of the by-election. The meeting is unlikely to take place unless Deuba agrees on it. As the party’s future looks uncertain, some leaders have taken upon themselves to bridge the factional rift within the party. Senior leader Shekhar Koirala has already announced a nationwide campaign in order to boost the morale of party leaders and cadres. A team led by NC leader Gururaj Ghimire has appointed seven coordinators to carry out the campaign. It is clear that the current Congress leadership cannot meet the mounting challenges of reforming the party on multiple fronts, says Ghimire. He adds the campaign is aimed at soliciting the views and suggestions of the general public on reforming the party. Following the campaign, Ghimire and others are planning to call for a special general convention of the party to elect a new leadership. But changing the NC leadership is not an easy task. Deuba, who was re-elected party president just one and half years ago, maintains a strong command in both CWC and Parliamentary Party. The rival camp, meanwhile, is a divided house. Though it seems that senior leader Koirala is leading the rival camp in the NC, it is not so. Many leaders do not see Koirala as someone who can rival the current leadership under Deuba. The rival camp must come together if they really want to put up a real fight against Deuba. Koirala himself faces a competition against Gagan Kumar Thapa to become a rival faction leader in the party. Both of them are vying for the party presidency, as Deuba cannot run again. Though the two leaders had come together during the parliamentary party election held after last year’s general election, the division was clear among their supporters, as the Koirala panel did not vote for Thapa, who was contesting the poll against Deuba. On Monday, Thapa said on a Facebook post that he would take a tough stand against the party leadership in the coming days. He noted that he had long remained silent when the party leadership chose not to follow the set system during the party’s decision-making process. Thapa’s remarks indicate that he is willing to go on a collision course with Deuba, come what may. Youth leader Bhupendra Jung Shahi says as the party is in a very difficult situation, they have no choice but to go against the current leadership to reform the party. It remains to be seen how the Congress will clean up the mess it itself has created over decades.
