Former general secretary of Nepali Congress (NC) Prakash Man Singh has intensified preparations to contest for the post of party president and stopped attending meetings called by the faction of Senior Leader Ram Chandra Paudel with just over three weeks remaining for the general convention.
He visited Pokhara on Tuesday and has gone to Biratnagar Wednesday. Leaders and cadres of all groups and sub-groups attended his program in Pokhara on Tuesday and he urged cadres at other places to learn from Pokhara and attend programs of all top leaders irrespective of the factions.
Singh is son of Ganesh Man Singh and Mangala Devi Singh but does not identify himself as a prince claiming he has struggled right from the grassroots.
Singh, who was unhappy with General Secretary Shashank Koirala for supporting Sher Bahadur Deuba in the election for parliamentary party leader despite him supporting Koirala in the last general convention, is also unhappy with Paudel in recent times.
He wanted to make Rajendra KC minister but Paudel made Dilendra Prasad Badu minister instead. He is also unhappy with Paudel over agreeing to lead the political coordination committee formed by the ruling coalition.
Singh, who did not contest for any post in the 13th general convention despite being elected general secretary in the 12th, had supported Paudel in the election for party president and Koirala for general secretary in the 13th. He says he cannot always keep supporting others.
Singh has a strong hold in party organization in Kathmandu having served as district president for a long time. He has accused Paudel and Koirala of allying with Bhimsen Das Pradhan to try to destroy his hold in the district. He allied with Gagan Thapa, who has already announced candidacy for general secretary, in the municipal conventions and their team swept most of the positions in the local bodies.
He has been stressing on the need for a change in the leadership while addressing party leaders and cadres across the country claiming that the people want to see a leader other than Deuba and Paudel to lead the grand old party.
He is particularly critical of Deuba pointing how the party has become weaker since Deuba was elected the party president. He blames Deuba for the party's miserable performance in the last general election despite being the largest party in the Second Constituent Assembly and playing a leading role in promulgation of the new Constitution in 2015.
He has presented himself as the natural candidate for party president in the upcoming general convention to be held in Kathmandu from December 10-12. He had urged leaders and cadres to not treat him merely as a Kathmandu president pointing that he is preparing to contest for national president while addressing a program to felicitate newly elected office-bearers from different municipalities in Kathmandu just two days back.
He did not attend the meeting of Paudel faction held on November 12 and returned from India visit only on Saturday. He believes NC should contest the next general election on its own and warned Deuba to not ally with other parties during the central committee meeting on Sunday.
He has been trying to build a team for the general convention. It has yet to be seen who will join his team though.
