Deuba’s decision to step away from the NC leadership comes at a time when there are calls to organize a special general convention to elect a new leadership. The rival camps in the Congress party started calling for Deuba’s resignation after he failed to give continuity to the five-party coalition following the general elections held in November last year. Calls for a change in leadership have grown louder after the party lost the by-election in Tanahun-1, a party stronghold.
NC general secretary duo, Gagan Kumar Thapa and Bishwa Prakash Sharma, and other leaders such as Gururaj Ghimire have emerged as strong advocates of immediate leadership change. But, leaders in the Deuba camp say the party president is seeking a graceful exit, like his predecessors. He has expressed strong disdain toward the ongoing campaign launched by Ghimire for party reformation, saying that such an act will further deepen factional politics inside Congress. Some party leaders say Deuba’s leadership is increasingly becoming questionable even though the party emerged as the largest party in parliament in the last year’s general elections. They say Deuba has shown no interest whatsoever in bringing programs to reenergize the party. The NC president and a five-time prime minister is also known for disregarding the party’s statute and imposing his own decisions. For instance, during the last general convention, the party had pledged to organize a policy convention to discuss the party’s ideology, but this has not happened due to Deuba’s reluctance. The NC is confronting new challenges, but its leadership has not paid sufficient attention to energize the party structures. It has been more than a year since the NC held its last convention, and the party is yet to form its departments. The party's sister organizations are also in a state of mess. Following the general elections of last year, parties like the CPN-UML have launched various programs to reach out to their cadres and voters. But the Congress party has not brought any such programs. The party has not even reviewed its election performance. It is the young party members who have been frustrated the most by Deuba’s leadership. Some youth members are even detaching themselves from the party with the intent of joining the new political forces like the Rastriya Swatantra Party. “Youths are no longer attracted to our party,” says one leader. “It would be a big achievement for the Nepali Congress if only it could retain the youth members that it has right now.” The situation on the ground is gradually shifting for the NC, but its top leadership has refused to acknowledge it. The party’s organizations are in extreme disarray, and its support base is rapidly shrinking. Some leaders fear that the NC could face a humiliating defeat in the next general elections, if the party did not change its ways. But who is the next leader who can re-energize the NC? Deuba took the leadership of the party after a long-battle with the Koirala dynasty. In the 2022 general convention, he got elected as party president but his key confidants lost the election to the party’s office bearers. Two of Deuba’s rivals, Thapa and Sharma, won the post of party’s general secretary, who are now calling for an end to Deuba’s reign to save Congress. Thapa has even projected himself as the next party leader. In the Deuba camp are leaders like Purna Bahadur Khadka, Prakash Sharan Mahat, and Gyanendra Bahadur Karki. Bal Krishna Khand, another close confidant of Deuba, is currently under arrest for his alleged involvement in Bhutanese refugee scam. Some leaders say within the Deuba camp, there is no clear successor to replace him, as all the leaders see one another as equals and would not agree to see one of them take on the role of the party president. The rival camp led by Shekhar Koirala is also a divided house at the moment, which puts the NC at a precarious position. It is not sure whether Koirala and Thapa will stand together in the next general convention. Koirala wants to become party president and for that he is seeking Thapa’s vote of confidence. But Thapa, who has already contested the election for the parliamentary party leader against Deuba, is also preparing to contest for the party presidency. Compared to Thapa, Koirala has been taking a soft stance on Deuba. Amid calls to hold a special general convention, Koirala, in a way, is defending Deuba, saying that pointing the finger at a single leader for all party’s mess is unfair. Of late, Deuba and Koirala have also been seen sharing the same stage. They were seen together at the convention of the NC, Bhaktapur chapter, recently. Deuba and Koirala also attended a conference of Democratic Lawyers Association held in Chitwan. Some leaders see this as a sign of Deuba projecting Koirala as the next party president. However, Deuba is yet to agree to appoint Koirala as a senior leader of the party, despite the tradition of the party president appointing his closest rival as a senior leader. In the 13th general convention, Deuba had appointed Ram Chandra Poudel, his presidential election rival, as a senior leader. Former NC president Sushil Koirala had also done the same by appointing Deuba as the senior leader. But some NC leaders believe that the next party president should be someone young and influential in order to reenergize the party and to counter the new emerging forces such as Rastriya Swatantra Party and the resurgence of Rastriya Prajatantra Party. For them, Thapa is their obvious choice. But there are many obstacles for Thapa to become the next NC president. Leaders in the Deuba camp as well as some youth leaders do not want Thapa to lead the party. Political analyst Puranjan Acharya says though it is too early to talk about Deuba’s successor, it is clear that there aren’t any towering personalities in the party who could revitalize the party. “I don’t think Deuba will be able to leave his legacy in the party because there could be a split in his faction,” he says. Acharya adds Deuba and Koirala sharing the same stage in recent times is not a sufficient reason to draw a conclusion about the NC’s future leadership. “We have also yet to see how youth leaders like Gagan Thapa, who is claiming the leadership spot, evolve inside the party,” observes Acharya. NC Central Working Committee member Nain Singh Mahar says if they can keep their camp intact they would be able to elect a new president. “It depends on how intra-party dynamics will evolve because we are seeing the rapid changes in the traditional factions of the party. At the same time, national politics will also affect the leadership election.” Thapa is in favor of bringing about a sea change in the party organization, and for that he has been calling for a special convention. But with Koriala apparently cozying up with Deuba to secure his berth as the next NC president, the change that Congress leaders and supporters want may not come after all.
