The central committee meeting of Nepali Congress (NC) has been postponed yet again.
The meeting scheduled for Monday will now be convened on Thursday, according to NC Chief Secretary Krishna Prasad Paudel. The party has been postponing its central committee meeting repeatedly since September due to COVID-19 infection and internal dispute.
NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba has been regularly holding meeting of top leaders to resolve the intra-party dispute discussing the letter by 27 leaders faction from the faction of Senior Leader Ram Chandra Paudel expressing displeasure at the working style of Deuba.
The meeting at Deuba's residence on Sunday reached verbal agreement about keeping the party departments as it is and presenting a proposal for consensus on issues like active membership and integration in the central committee meeting.
Central member Navindra Raj Joshi had reached the party's central office in Sanepa on September 28 and handed over the letter demanding an environment for holding a fair and impartial general convention.
Senior Leader Ram Chandra Paudel, General Secretary Shashank Koirala, Treasurer Sita Devi Yadav, former general secretary Prakash Man Singh, and central members Ram Sharan Mahat, Arjun Narsingh KC, Bal Bahadur KC, Mahesh Acharya, Dil Bahadur Gharti, Minendra Rijal, Sujata Koirala, Dilendra Prasad Badu, Shekhar Koirala, Dipak Giri, Navindra Raj Joshi, Chandra Bhandari, Kamala Panta, Dhan Raj Gurung, Ratna Sherchan, Badri Prasad Pandey, Jeevan Pariyar, Guru Raj Ghimire, Kalyan Kumar Gurung, Ram Krishna Yadav, Hriday Ram Thani, Kiran Yadav and Sarita Prasai had signed on the letter.
They had warned that they will be forced to start struggle programs if Deuba does not show seriousness and urgency to address their demands judiciously. They also demanded revocation of the decision to form party departments and term extension of the sister organizations.
Deuba was on appointment spree in recent months forming party departments and senior politician assembly. Deuba's opponents in the party have been accusing him of trying to influence the next general convention by forming party departments after announcement of general convention.
The departments need to be formed within six months of the general convention but Deuba is making the appointments when his four-year term has already ended and he is on a one-year extension as party chief.
The Paudel faction accuses Deuba of trying to postpone the general convention scheduled for February 2021 and unilateral distribution of active membership. They point that active membership has been distributed from the center to not just Bijay Kumar Gachchhadar and other leaders joining NC from other parties but even to their cadres, and pointed that is against norms.
The Paudel faction demands that active membership should be distributed to the cadres of newcomers from the local level.
