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The main opposition party, Nepali Congress (NC), has issued a whip to its lawmakers to vote against the confidence motion to be presented in the House of Representatives by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal. 

NC Chief Whip Ramesh Lekhak, through a note today, issued the directive to the party's lawmakers to mandatorily be physically present in the meeting of the House of Representatives convening at 11 am on March 13, and to vote against the PM's proposal seeking the vote of confidence.

Prime Minister Dahal is scheduled to present a proposal in the meeting of the House of Representatives slated for 11 am on March 13, seeking a vote of confidence.  

Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba was fully confident that Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal would hand over the power to him in 2025. So he was treading cautiously to keep the current coalition intact, extra careful not to upset Dahal. 

In Deuba’s own words, he refused to meet the opposition leader, KP Sharma Oli of the CPN-UML, despite the latter’s repeated requests. He even turned down Oli’s premiership offer, because he didn’t want to betray Dahal’s CPN (Maoist Center). But little did Deuba know that Oli’s UML had also been making overtures to Prime Minister Dahal to break the Maoist-NC coalition and form a left alliance. 

While it is true that the relationship between Dahal and Deuba was fraught with disagreements and misunderstandings, Deuba never thought they were serious enough to break the alliance.
According to NC leaders, the current situation resonates with the incident of 2017 when the Maoist party while being in the NC-led government forged an electoral alliance with the UML. Consequently, the NC faced a historic drubbing in the general elections, while the Maoists and UML went on to unify to become the largest communist party that the country had ever seen. The unified communist party, however, split to their old forms following a power tussle between Dahal and Oli.  

Now the two communist parties are together again and the Nepali Congress, which emerged as the largest political party through the 2022 parliamentary elections, has been relegated to the opposition’s role. Deuba’s party has also been stripped of power in the provinces. The NC has been in this same situation before. Soon after the 2022 general elections, the NC had taken a firm stance of forming a government under its leadership. This led the Maoists to switch sides and make an alliance with the UML to form a government. But once again, there was a power tussle between Dahal and Oli, and the Maoist-UML coalition fell through. 

The NC returned to power after agreeing to Dahal’s condition that he should be allowed to lead the government for two years. As per the agreement, Deuba would lead the coalition government for the final two years of the five-year term, and Madhav Kumar Nepal of the CPN (Unified Socialist) would helm the government for one year after the end of Dahal’s term.  

With everything that had occurred between the Maoists and UML, with all the bad blood between Dahal and Oli, there was no reason for Deuba to suspect that something was amiss. How wrong was he! 

In Monday’s office-bearers meeting, Deuba called Dahal a betrayer for secretly aligning with the UML without any solid reason. While Deuba and his supporters have taken it as a major loss to the NC, leaders like Shekhar Koirala and Gagan Thapa are of the view that it will be beneficial to the party in the long-run. 

Koirala said break-up and formation of alliances is a normal affair in politics, even though Prime Minister Dahal abandoned the NC in an abrupt and abnormal manner. 

He added that the NC should be careful about forging such an alliance in the future.

For a long time, Koirala was against the NC-Maoist alliance. The party’s general secretary duo Thapa and Bishwa Prakash Sharma also held contradictory views regarding the alliance with the Maoist party. Even though the Nepali Congress leader Ram Chandra Poudel was elected the President with the support of the Maoists, Thapa, Sharma, Koirala and other NC leaders were concerned that the alliance with the Maoist party was compromising the party’s ideology and eroding the support base. 

In the recently concluded Mahasamiti meeting of the NC, Thapa and his team took a firm position that the party should make an official stance that it will not forge any electoral alliance in the next general elections. So the party endorsed the proposal to not form a pre-poll alliance while also committing to give continuity to the NC-Maoist coalition until the next elections. 

It was a reason enough for Prime Minister Dahal to sever ties with the NC. Dahal was also unhappy with the performance of the NC ministers. Some leaders say the prime minister was also being pressured by the NC not to investigate high-profile corruption scandals involving politicians and businesspersons.

The NC was allegedly putting pressure on Prime Minister Dahal to remove Home Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha, claiming that Shrestha was targeting NC leaders by opening investigations into past corruption cases. 
The NC is currently discussing their future course of action. So far it is not clear whether the party will remain in opposition and prepare for the 2027 general elections, or start making efforts to dismantle the Maoist-UML coalition all over again. 

Youth leaders of the party are of the view that the party should remain in the opposition and focus on party building, but the decision rests upon Deuba, who holds a major sway in the party. Koirala said the NC should learn a lesson from this episode, but it is really Deuba who should.  

The current coalition between the Nepali Congress and the CPN (Maoist Center) has collapsed.

With the collapse of the coalition, it is almost certain that a new equation will be formed between the CPN-UML and the Maoist Center.

CPN-UML Deputy General Secretary Pradeep Gyawali said that Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal will reshuffle the Cabinet and form a new one today itself.

“The Prime Minister will reshuffle the Cabinet and form a new one today itself if he wants,” Gyawali said.

For quite some time now, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has been vocal about his intentions to revamp his Cabinet, aiming to oust underperforming ministers and those embroiled in controversies. Specifically, Dahal seeks to remove Health Minister Mohan Basnet, who has been mired in various controversies, and Minister of Physical Infrastructure and Transport Prakash Jwala, whose negligence resulted in the deaths of two youths in Balkumari. However, coalition leaders Sher Bahadur Deuba of the Nepali Congress and Madhav Kumar Nepal of the CPN (Unified Socialist)have exerted pressure on Dahal to refrain from making such decisions. The main opposition, CPN-UML, is also urging Dahal to dismiss ministers entangled in controversies.

The prime minister is apparently dissatisfied with the performances of Finance Minister Prakash Sharan Mahat and Foreign Minister NP Saud, both from the Deuba camp of the Nepali Congress. But Deuba is reluctant to recall them due to the intra-party dynamics. The Dahal-led government is facing widespread criticism for its failure to improve the country’s economy, create jobs, curb youth migration abroad, and enhance service delivery. Acknowledging these shortcomings, Dahal repeatedly asserts that he will bring about changes through Cabinet reshuffling, but faces resistance from his coalition partners.

Another point of contention between the primary coalition partners, Congress and Dahal’s CPN (Maoist Center), is their respective positions on the candidate for the chairman of the National Assembly (NA). With the current chairman, who is from the main opposition UML, retiring this month, both parties are vying for the position. The NC has already communicated to the Maoist party that its senior leader Krishna Prasad Sitaula, who won the NA election last month, should be elected as the new chair, a position that Prime Minister Dahal had initially supported. But of late, Dahal’s party has taken a hard stance on the issue due to a couple of reasons. Firstly, the NC voters did not vote for the Maoist candidates in the Koshi provinces during the NA election, and secondly, the recently concluded NC’s Mahasamiti meeting portrayed Maoist insurgency in a negative light.

Prime Minister Dahal is under pressure from his own party not to relinquish the claim for the NA chair. Although the Maoist party has decided to field its own candidate, leaders say Dahal will most likely support Sitaula for the NA chair. 

Maoist leaders fear that the party will be left without any representatives in the Constitutional Council if the NA leadership is handed over to the NC.

After the NA election last month, the Maoists, which is the third-largest party in the House of Representatives, emerged as the largest party in the National Assembly. In the recently concluded party’s Standing Committee, there were strong voices advocating for the party to claim the chairmanship of the NA, which led to the formal decision on the same issue. 

The Maoist decision may also have been partly influenced by the NC’s Mahasamiti meeting, where the majority of representatives opposed the electoral alliance with the Maoist party, though the outcomes of the meeting did not create any obstacles for the party to forge an electoral alliance in the next local and national elections.

A senior Maoist leader says, “We should not expect that one alliance lasts forever; there could be changes.”

Though the current coalition may not be in any significant danger, the gap between the two coalition partners is widening by the day. It appears that both Deuba and Dahal are committed to the continuation of the current coalition, but there is growing unease within both NC and Maoist parties. Both Dahal and Deuba are extra cautious that the current differences between the two parties should not create problems in the coalition.

They sit together even if some minor issues arise to maintain an environment of trust. For instance, when Nepali Congress General Secretary Gagan Thapa took a firm stance in the party’s Mahasamiti meeting to endorse the proposal that the party would not forge a pre-poll alliance, Deuba and his close aide Purna Bahadur Khadka personally assured Dahal that the coalition will remain intact. Inside the NC, senior leader Shekhar Koirala continuously asserts that he is working to change the coalition, while Thapa has taken a middle ground that the party should remain committed to the current coalition but should not forge an electoral alliance in the next general elections. 

Meanwhile, Deuba and leaders close to him argue that the party should take a pragmatic approach because if the party leaves the government, the UML will come to the rescue of the Dahal-led government, ultimately paving the way for the left alliance. And, in case the left alliance is formed again, the party could face an electoral defeat like it did in the 2017 elections.

However, the NC rank and file are not happy with the alliance, as reflected in the party’s Mahasamiti meeting where they stated that the alliance with the Maoists has eroded the party’s ideology and support base. Inside the NC, there are growing voices that the party is suffering due to the non-performance of the NC as a key coalition. 

A NC senior leader says, “On the one hand, our cadres at the local level have not felt the party’s presence in the government, on the other hand, the Dahal-led government is becoming unpopular, but people are pointing fingers at us because Dahal remains in power.”

Similarly, inside the Maoist party, there are growing demands that the alliance with NC should be reviewed as vote transfer has emerged as a big problem. Though Dahal seems committed to continuing with the current coalition, senior leaders inside the party believe that it would be natural to form a left alliance. For now, it seems that both Deuba and Dahal, who have a strong command in the party, would manage the differences, but it is uncertain whether they will be able to do so for a long time.

Nepali Congress (NC) General Secretary Gagan Kumar Thapa has presented a proposal that his party should not form the pre-election alliance.

In the ongoing policy conclave of the party’s Mahasamiti meeting- at Godawari, General-Secretary Thapa floated the proposal that the NC should shun political alliance with any party in the periodic election in future.

"The Mahasamiti meeting's resolution is to contest the upcoming periodic election on its own," he viewed, pressing for creating an enabling environment where the voters could cast their vote to Nepali Congress.

In the 38-page organizational proposal, Thapa called for making NC more energetic and dynamic and increase public's confidence in the party and re-establish itself as a party which could alone secure two-thirds majority.

He, however, said that the NC is aware of demonstrating political honesty as per commitments made with the public and agreement with coalition partners during the election.

According to him, good-governance should be the main mantra for NC-led governments at all three levels with effective public service delivery. 

He further asserted that the NC should take ownership of the constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic, which was promulgated under leadership of the party itself, and it should protect and implement the national charter with high level of confidence.

Furthermore, the General Secretary proposed party determination to unite the entire party at every level and make it further active in line with the party's aspiration- 'Prosperous Nepal: Honoured Nepali'.

He, in the proposal, highlighted the need for the party to prioritize the issues and concerns of public and communities and make the party a center of excellence through debate, dialogues, training and discussion and adopt policy of zero-tolerance against corruption in all forms and make the party a catalyst for social transformation.

The meeting, party's main policy-making body, has over 2,200 representatives taking part in the four-day event.

The closed session of the Mahasamiti meeting of the Nepali Congress is starting today.

The Mahasamiti meeting ended with the opening session on Monday and the closed session will start from 9 am today, said NC Central Office Chief Secretary Krishna Prasad Paudel. Five different reports are going to be submitted for discussion in the meeting.

The reports includes the policy proposal by Party Vice President Purna Bahadur Khadka, organizational proposal by General Secretary Gagan Kumar Thapa, contemporary political proposal by General Secretary Bishwa Prakash Sharma, proposal regarding the economic situation, prospects and future direction by the party's spokesperson Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat while coordinator of the audit committee Shyam Kumar Ghimire is going to submit the audit report proposal, according to coordinator of the information, communication and publicity department of the party, Min Bahadur Bishwakarma.

The proposals presented in the meeting will be discussed and passed by the Mahasamiti meeting.

The meeting which started from Monday at Sunrise Conference Center in Godavari, Lalitpur will continue till February 22.

More than 2,000 delegates from across the country are participating in the meeting.

The Mahasamiti meeting of Nepali Congress started on Monday after a six-year hiatus. Although the party’s top decision-making body, which is supposed to meet every two years, last held its meeting in 2018, which came hot on the heels of Congress’ historic electoral drubbing in general elections. 

In these past six years, the party has re-emerged as the largest party, thanks to the electoral alliance with the CPN (Maoist Center) and a few other fringe parties in the 2022 general elections. However, the grand old party is still not out of the woods yet. The party’s popularity is diminishing, intra-party rift is becoming increasingly tense, and the organizational structure is in shambles.  

The electoral alliance in 2022 elections catapulted NC back to the top spot, but many in the party are of the view that they should think about contesting the next general elections without any alliance.     

NC General Secretary Gagan Kumar Thapa and his team is pressing the leadership of Sher Bahadur Deuba to pass a resolution that the party will not forge a pre-poll alliance. However, Deuba and his supporters are not keen about the idea. 

In a direct reference to the Maoist party, in his political document, Thapa states: “The Mahasamiti meeting should make a resolution that the party would not forge a pre-election alliance, and will not create an environment in which the cadres will be forced to vote for other parties.”

The document further states though the prospects of a single party securing a majority are slim under the current electoral system, there can be a post-election alliance to deliver a government on the basis of common minimum program. The grassroots level cadres, according to Thapa, feel that pre-poll alliance is eroding the party’s ideology. 

“Between the 2017 and 2022 elections, our popular votes have shrunken by five percent. This is because NC cadres and supporters did not get the chance to vote for their party,” Thapa told the Mahasamiti meeting. 

Regarding the existing alliance with Maoist, Thapa said that the party should stick to it for the next four years, but come the next general elections, the Nepali Congress should fight alone. 

The faction led by senior leader Shekhar Koirala has a similar position on electoral alliance. 

“When I visit outside Kathmandu, our cadres often ask me, ‘When will we contest the election as a single party?’ Because of the electoral alliance, our vote share has decreased to 27 percent from 34\35 percent,” he said.

The reading of Thapa and Koirala regarding the pre-election alliance is the same, but their ambition to become the next president of the NC prevents them from joining hands to mount pressure on the current leadership. 

NC President Deuba and his supporters do not subscribe to Thapa and Koirala’s views. They believe that the alliance with Maoists helped the Congress become the largest party, and that this partnership could be continued in the future. 

The NC leadership takes the alliance with the Maoists as a compulsion and strategy to keep its main rival, the CPN-UML, out of power. But the local level leaders are not satisfied with the alliance. This was evident when the party members disregarded the NC-Maoist alliance and voted for the UML candidate in the National Assembly elections of Koshi province. The incident has created an environment of distrust between the NC and the Maoist party. 

NC leader Nain Singh Mahar says local level cadres are dead set against pre-poll alliance, mainly with the Maoist party. 

Given the animosity between two parties during the insurgency era, the NC cadres do not want to vote for the Maoist party. During the armed rebellion launched by the Maoists, the rebel force killed scores of NC cadres and confiscated their properties. To this day, the supporters of NC see the Maoists as their enemy. Even when the Maoists decided to join mainstream politics, scores of NC leaders and cadres were against the peace process initiated by former Congress leader Girija Prasad Koirala.

In the 2022 general elections, the NC forged an electoral alliance with the Maoists to defeat the UML. Soon after the elections, the Maoist chairman, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, whose party polled behind the UML in third position, urged the NC to support his prime ministerial bid.

When the NC rejected Dahal’s bid, the Maoist leader went on to join forces with the UML to become prime minister. This led to a bizarre scenario where the NC, despite winning the most number of seats in the House of Representatives, was consigned to the opposition aisle. Deuba’s leadership was heavily criticized at the time. Questions were also raised about alliance politics, particularly when two parties with opposing ideologies come together. 

The Deuba leadership managed to break the Maoist-UML alliance and reform another government under Dahal, but the debate over electoral alliance did not leave the NC. Deuba and his supporters may not want to pass the resolution rejecting the pre-poll alliance, as it could create friction within the current coalition. But this does not mean that the pressure is not off from Deuba. 

If the NC Mahasamiti meeting endorses the resolution, it will surely create a rift in the NC-Maoist coalition. The next general elections are still four years away, and if NC passes such a proposal, there is a high chance that the Maoists will once again join forces with the UML. 

It’s clear that Deuba doesn’t want to scupper his chance to become prime minister as per the deal reached with the Maoist chairman and current prime minister, Dahal. Deuba will try his best not to get the Thapa-proposed resolution passed from the Mahasamiti meeting. 

Vice-President Purna Bahadur Khadka, a leader close to Deuba, in his political document, states that the election alliance has become a compulsion due to the current electoral system. 

“We are forging the electoral alliance to avoid the risks of political instability because under the current system, no party secures the majority numbers required to form a government.” 

Another General Secretary Bishwa Prakash Sharma has taken a middle path stating that it would be too early to decide about the electoral alliance, as the election is four years away.  He nevertheless agrees that alliance politics is damaging the party's reputation among the supporters.

Frustration is also growing among the Congress cadres and supporters because the current coalition government has failed to deliver. Although the NC dominates in all three tiers of government, the party has not taken any notable initiatives to ensure good governance and development. 

According to Thapa, there is not proper coordination and communication between the party and government, a major challenge that all governments have been facing after the restoration of democracy in 1990.  

As the decision of the ongoing Mahasamiti meeting of the NC could impact the national politics, the Maoist and the UML will be closely following the development.

Nepali Congress General Secretary Gagan Kumar Thapa has said that party’s members have not felt the party’s presence in the government. Presenting a document at the party’s Central Working Committee (CWC), Thapa maintained that NC cadres were not connecting themselves with the government’s policy, priorities and programs.

In this scenario, there is a state of confusion inside the party—whether to defend the government or question its relevance, Thapa states in his document. He added that party leaders cannot turn a deaf ear to such a scenario.

Thapa, who prepared the document after extensive consultations with cadres at the grass-roots, noted that there is dissatisfaction over the electoral alliance with the Maoist party. Due to the electoral alliance, cadres did not get the chance to vote for the party’s election symbol, which has created frustration, The cadres have taken the pre-poll alliance with the Maoists as a sign of waning of the party’s ideology and they are unhappy with the party leadership, Thapa said. Thapa has stated that the party should stick to the present ruling coalition but it should pass a resolution declaring that such an alliance won’t continue after the completion of its five-year tenure.

In his political document, the NC general secretary has said that the party failed to implement its statute, which resulted in undemocratic functioning of the party, adding that there is a tendency of neglecting the party’s statute. Per Thapa’s analysis, the party is neglecting the minority voices and those losing elections are adopting non-cooperation policies across the party line. The party is totally visionless leaving the rank and file disillusioned, he said at the party meeting and proposed organizing the party’s general convention on schedule.

The Central Working Committee meeting of the Nepali Congress will be held at 1 pm at the party’s central office in Sanepa on Thursday.

The meeting is scheduled to discuss preparations for the Mahasamiti meeting of the party to be held at Godavari in Lalitpur from February 19 to 23.

NC Central Office Chief Secretary Krishna Prasad Paudel said that the meeting will focus on the issues of the upcoming General Committee meeting.

The party has also requested the office-bearers, members and invitee members of the party's central working committee to attend today's meeting.

Nepali Congress (NC) has finalized its candidates for the election to the National Assembly (NA) members.

The NC Central Performance Committee meeting that concluded last night decided to nominate candidates for the NA election.

The meeting chaired by NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba decided to present Krishna Prasad Sitaula (other) in the Koshi province, Ananda Prasad Dhungana (other) in the Madhes province, Jeetjung Basnet (other), Bishnu Devi Pudasaini (women) in the Bagmati province, Kiran Babu Shrestha (other), Padma Bahadur Pariyar (disabled and minorities) in the Gandaki province.

Likewise, the party decided to field Bishnu Kumari Sapkota (women) in the Lumbini province, Baldev Bohora (other) and Narayan Dutta Bhatta (disabled and minorities) in the Sudurpaschim province, Informed NC office chief secretary Krishna Prasad Poudel.

As per the consensus in the ruling coalition, NC is fielding candidates for 10 posts in the election to the NA members taking place January 25 for total 19 posts.

NC has appealed to all voters to emerge the candidates of the ruling coalition victorious in the election.

The largest parties in the ruling coalition— Nepali Congress and CPN (Maoist Center)—held a discussion on sharing the National Assembly seats.

CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba among other leaders held a meeting at the Prime Minister’s official residence in Baluwatar this morning.

A preliminary discussion was held on giving how many seats to which party out of 19 seats in the election to be held on January 25, a Congress leader said.

According to a source, there is a possibility that the meeting of the coalition will be held on Wednesday to share the National Assembly seats.

Nepali Congress, Maoist Center, CPN (Unified Socialist), Janata Samajbadi Party, Janamat Party, Democratic Socialist Party and Nagarik Unmukti Party are currently in the ruling coalition.

Though the Rastriya Janamorcha has not joined the government, it has been extending support from outside.

The Congress has claimed 10 seats.

Twelve political parties have applied at the Election Commission to contest the National Assembly election.

The Nepali Congress has become a visionless and missionless political party. Ask the ordinary party cadres about the party’s future and they will tell you there isn’t one.

This past week I interacted with several NC cadres and the key takeaway from these exchanges was that they no longer feel confident regarding the party’s future.

Frustration and hopelessness consume the party cadres these days and they put the blame squarely on the top leadership. They say the leaders on top have failed to rouse the party out from the status quo. Many local-level cadres are deserting to other parties, because they no longer believe that the NC can lead the country. 

Yes, there are those who take comfort in the knowledge that the Congress is still the largest party and that its president, Sher Bahadur Deuba, is poised to become the next prime minister. But most of them are affiliated to the Deuba camp and consider the party leadership to be above and beyond reproach.

The harsh reality is that the NC is losing its supporters left, right and center. The problems that the party faces today run from the center to the grassroots. The fact that the Pushpa Kamal Dahal-led government, in which the Congress serves as a key coalition partner, has been unable to revive the faltering economy and improve governance has only deepened the discontent among party cadres. 

There are strong voices inside the NC that the party should pull out its support to the Dahal government and forge a coalition with the CPN-UML, the main opposition. The UML has hinted that it could support Deuba as a prime minister if the NC leaves the current coalition. But even if this scenario comes to pass, it will only guarantee Congress’s leadership of government for the next four years. It will neither resolve the party’s organizational dysfunction, nor heal the factional rift. 
 

While the second-rung leaders of the NC and UML are said to be discussing a possible alliance between the two parties, there hasn’t been any substantial talks between Deuba and KP Sharma Oli, the UML chairman. 

At the same time, there are alternative views inside the NC that continuing the current alliance with Dahal’s CPN (Maoist Center) will serve the party's interests in the long-run. Leaders who subscribe to this view believe that the party cannot retain its current position without electoral alliance with the Maoist in the next election. Their outlook goes against those who strongly believe that the Congress party should contest the next election as a single party. 

Leaders who think that the NC should solely fight the next election include the general secretary duo, Gagan Thapa and Bishwa Prakash Shara, and senior leader, Shekhar Koirala. 

A senior Congress leader who spoke with ApEx on condition of anonymity said: “Some of our friends are talking about contesting the next election as a single party, but the reality is completely different. Without an electoral alliance, the NC has no chance of winning.” 

If the NC were to enter the fray, there is a chance that the Maoist could ally with the UML—something that had occurred during the 2017 polls, which resulted in an unprecedented electoral drubbing for the NC.  

The Congress leader said that the 2023 by-election outcome in which the party lost in its historic stronghold is a warning sign for those leaders who are advocating for the party to contest the next election alone.  

Nevertheless, the proponents of the idea are trying to endorse the proposal from the party's Mahasamiti meeting. NC President Deuba, however, is dead set against endorsing such a proposal, as it could rattle the current coalition. Dahal could break the alliance with the NC, blowing Deuba’s chances of becoming prime minister. 

Following the 2022 general elections, in which the NC, Maoists and some fringe parties had contested as allies against the UML, the NC emerged as the largest national party. However, the Maoists did not do so well, polling in third after the UML with a big gap between them. And when Deuba refused to hand over the post of prime minister to Dahal as per their pre-election agreement, the latter had joined hands with the UML, leaving the NC desperate. 

The Maoist-UML coalition, however, did not last long as a result of power struggle between Dahal and Oli. The Congress eventually got back with the Maoists, offering Dahal the premiership for two years of the full five-year term and securing the post of president for the party. 

Deuba has no intention to irritate the Maoists and lose his chance of becoming the prime minister. Some leaders say Deuba’s blind ambition to occupy the executive’s chair while ignoring the pressing task of strengthening the party organization and support base is eating away at the NC’s reputation.  

Even a year after the general elections, the party's activities are almost zero. NC ministers in the Dahal-led government have not just failed to deliver, they have made a string of controversial decisions. Factional disputes have divided the party from the leadership to rank and file. On several national issues, the party has not made its official position known.

One of the serious blows to the party's reputation was the arrest of its senior leader and former home minister, Bal Krishna Khand, in a corruption case. There is an environment of fear within the party. Many party leaders do not dare criticize the Dahal-led government, because they fear they could be indicted in past corruption cases.

Top leaders' popularity graph, including that of youth leaders Thapa and Sharma, is at a historic low. For a long time, there have been calls from the NC cadres to the central leadership to reform the party, but there is a lack of unity among top leaders. The rivalry between Thapa and Koirala, two influential leaders after Deuba, is increasing, as both are eyeing for the post of party president.

“The Nepali Congress appears visionless, missionless and rudderless at the moment,” said Nainsingh Mahar, NC’s Central Working Committee member. 

Talks about holding a meeting of the party’s Mahasamiti, a high policy-making body, have not made any progress. Thapa and Sharma blame Deuba for repeatedly  postponing the crucial gathering. The Deuba faction, on the other hand, say that Thapa and Sharma, as general secretaries, have failed to make the necessary preparations for the meeting. 

“It is high time that the top leaders got their act together and came up with a clear vision for the party’s future,” said Mahar.  

It is a big task when ambition and rivalry run amok in the grand old party.

The Nepali Congress (NC) has decided to postpone the schedule of its Mahasamiti meeting by two weeks. The postponement is attributed to Friday's earthquake in Karnali Province and the availability issue of a meeting hall.

During the NC Central Executive Committee meeting on Sunday, it was decided to reschedule the meeting from December 15 to 18 this year. The meeting will be held at the Godavari-based Sunrise Convention Centre in Lalitpur. Initially, the event was set to take place from November 29 to December 1.

The party has adopted the policy of suspending all formal events till the Tihar festival, considering the quake's impact in western Nepal, it is said.

In the meantime, the meeting decided to draw the government's attention towards the urgency to expedite its rescue, relief and rehabilitation efforts in the quake-hit areas, acknowledging the efforts made so far.

Likewise, the meeting said the monetary assistance of Rs five million announced by the party for the survivors is not sufficient and has urged the party to secure more aid for them.

It also called for forming a committee to monitor and facilitate the relief distribution by ensuring that there are no irregularities in the process.

Nepali Congress has decided to provide Rs 5 million to the government fund for the rescue, relief and rehabilitation of earthquake victims. 

Congress Chief Secretary Kirshna Prasad Paudel said that the party has decided to provide Rs 5 million to the government fund for the rescue, relief and rehabilitation of quake victims in Jajarkot and Rukum West.

“An earthquake measuring 6.4 in the Richter scale that struck Jajarkot district at 11: 47 pm on Friday, leaving hundreds of people dead and injured and destroying property worth millions has left the entire Nepali people sad,” reads a statement issued by the Nepali Congress. “In this time, the Nepali Congress appealed to the government and political parties among others to unite together to face this disaster.”

The Congress has also appealed to all those living in the country and abroad to join the campaign of humanitarian service with an open heart.

Aa per the party’s statute, Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba cannot run for a third consecutive term. Given his age and the intra-party dynamics, he is unlikely to take initiatives to amend the statute to remove the term limits. 

In this scenario, the stage is set for a new generation of leaders to take the reins of the party. The list of potential contenders is long and includes figures like Gagan Thapa, Shekhar Koirala, Prakash Man Singh, Bimalendra Nidhi and Purna Bahadur Khadka. But one thing is clear: As Deuba wields a majority within the party’s Central Working Committee, Parliamentary Party and Mahasamiti, securing his vote of confidence is crucial for the Congress presidential hopefuls.

Currently, all eyes are on incumbent General Secretary Gagan Thapa and the Koirala family scion Shekhar Koirala. Gagan Thapa and Shekhar Koirala were in the same camp during the 14th General Convention, but as they aspire for the top job, the distance between them is widening. 

Many insiders believe that Koirala is strategically getting closer to Deuba to clinch the party presidency. Their budding bonhomie was apparent when Koriala praised Deuba’s leadership during a TV interview.

Thapa, on the other hand, has traversed a winding path within the party. His journey, marked by alliances and shifts, has led him to his current position as the party’s general secretary. Yet, questions abound regarding his loyalty and next move.

In the 13th General Convention, where Thapa was defeated in the general secretary race, his vote helped Deuba secure the presidency. In return, Deuba appointed Thapa as the Health and Population Minister under the Cabinet of CPN (Maoist Center) Chair Puspa Kamal Dahal.

However, after the first federal election in 2017, Thapa shifted his position. Following the election, Deuba and former Deputy PM Prakashman Singh were seen as contenders for the position of parliamentary party leader. However, Thapa’s group supported Singh against Deuba’s candidate, and Singh lost in the parliamentary party’s election.

In the 14th General Convention, Thapa's ambitions became more prominent, and he aligned with the Koirala camp against Singh and Sitaula. In the Parliamentary Party election of 2023, Thapa stood against Deuba, sidelining Koirala. Before the parliamentary party's candidate selection, Shekhar's group and Thapa assured that in the upcoming leadership opportunity, they would propose Koirala for the top post. However, it now appears that Thapa is bypassing Koirala in various aspects. Still, leaders from the Shekhar-Gagan camp are trying to resolve their disputes. They propose Koirala as the party president and Thapa as the second-in-command. 

However, members from the Thapa camp say that leadership is not bestowed as a gift; it is a demand of the times, and Thapa will vie for the presidency in the 15th General Convention.

Deuba and Koirala clan

Deuba, a trustee of BP Koirala, the founding leader of Nepali Congress, and a supporter of Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, was defeated in the leadership race against Girija Prasad Koirala and Sushil Koirala. After Sushil's passing, he competed against Ramchandra Poudel and Shekhar Koirala and secured the Congress presidency on both occasions.

Shashank Koirala, who emerged as a prominent figure during the 13th General Convention, had initially supported Deuba's candidacy and continued to do so during the 14th General Convention. However, the 14th General Convention created an environment where the members of the Koirala clan—Shekhar, Shashank and Sujata— found themselves in separate camps, which ultimately benefited Deuba. Shashank now appears to be closer to Deuba, and there is a growing thaw between Deuba and Shekhar. Shashank has indicated that he is preparing to contest the 15th General Convention for the presidency, regardless of support from Shekhar or not. Shashank believes that he has a better understanding of the Congress and the challenges it faces. 

Prakash Rasaili, a leader from the Shekhar-Gagan faction, believes that despite Shashank's skills as a politician, Deuba is unlikely to hand over the party leadership to the Koirala clan. Deuba's strategy, he says, is to create divisions in the opposition camp to ensure an easy victory for his own candidate. Relations between Shashank and Thapa were not cordial during the 14th Convention, as Shashank felt he was bypassed. A leader close to Shashank says that they are cautious about Thapa potentially betraying them at any time.

Shashank Koirala, Prakash Man Singh and Bimalendra Nidhi engaged in intense discussions during the 14th General Convention of the party. With the rising prominence of BP Koirala's and Mahendranarayan Nidhi's sons in political cooperation, the NC was witnessing the emergence of a new wave.

During discussions led by the trio, they reached an agreement that one among them would run for the position of Party presidency, while the other two would provide their support. However, as the registration for candidacy approached in the first phase of the Convention, both Singh and Nidhi registered their candidacies, while Shashank supported Deuba.

During the first phase of the convention, no candidate could garner the required 51 percent of votes to secure victory. So a second round of voting took place. In the first phase, Singh received the third-highest number of votes and Nidhi secured the fourth-highest. Despite their aspirations of becoming the party president, Singh and Nidhi supported Deuba.

During this time, Deuba faced allegations of withdrawing support from Singh after making promises.

Will Khadka become Deuba's successor?

There is no certainty as to who will become the NC president, but there are some early indications. Top leaders from Deuba's camp, such as Purna Bahadur Khadka and Gopal Man Shrestha, are natural candidates for the party presidency. However, Shrestha's influence within the party is limited.

Regarding the allegations of Bal Krishna Khand's involvement in the fake Bhutanese refugee scandal, there is speculation among the opposition about Deuba's choice for his successor. This controversy has brought Khadka forward as a potential candidate from the Deuba faction. 

Badri Sigdel, the former president of Nepal Press Union, says Khadka’s experiences, including key roles during the party's previous split, as well as positions like party general secretary, vice-president, and current Deputy Prime Minister, highlight his seniority within the party. 

Deuba has not explicitly assured support to Khadka so far. This has led to a debate on Arzoo Deuba's position within the party. Leaders suggest that she is unlikely to run for party presidency but may contest for a vital office bearer position.

Congress leader Rasaili believes that despite Deuba's support, the group in which Arzoo becomes a candidate is destined for defeat. "There is no unity even within the Deuba group. Today, Deuba, who is the president and the leader of the parliamentary party, and who is likely to become the prime minister in the near future, is facing opposition from leaders within his own group. If he is not the party president tomorrow, the situation will be different. Everyone should pursue their own politics; leaders can't just follow Deuba's lead."

Sigdel holds a different opinion. He says: "Sher Bahadur Deuba, who has led the party for two terms, fought against the Koiralas in the past and has been prime minister five times, has a strong grip on the party. Without Deuba's support, no one can win the presidency, given the strong organization he has built. Even a small fraction of support from Deuba's camp can make a significant difference."

A central committee member close to Deuba says that since the Congress is currently undergoing internal reformation, there is no clear picture of who will be the candidates for the next general convention. Regarding Khadka’s chance of getting Deuba’s nod, he says: "The process of breaking up and rebuilding factions is still ongoing, so we have not reached a point where Khadka can be definitively called Deuba's successor."