As KP Sharma Oli’s faction has failed to manage aspirants despite increasing the number of office-bearers and central committee members, leaders from the Oli camp have been filing candidacies from rival factions and as independents.
The party’s statute convention held in September had decided to reduce the number of office-bearers from 19 to 15 and to downsize the 301-member central committee to 251 members.
However, as leaders from his camp refused to give up their claims to office-bearer positions on the eve of the general convention, Oli pushed through a proposal at Sunday’s central committee meeting to amend the statute, retaining 19 office-bearers and a 301-member central committee in order to strike a power-sharing balance.
Under the amended statute, the party will have one chairperson, five vice-chairpersons, one general secretary, three deputy general secretaries, and nine secretaries.
Although the statute was amended to manage the large number of aspirants, it has become evident that it has not fully addressed discontent within the Oli camp.
After failing to secure nominations from the Oli camp, Krishna Gopal Shrestha, Raghuji Panta, Rajendra Gautam, and others have filed candidacies either from the group led by Senior Vice-chairman Ishwar Pokharel or as independents.
Among them, Shrestha has filed his candidacy for the post of secretary from the Pokharel camp.
Shrestha is the same leader who used to publicly defend Oli both inside and outside the party whenever Oli faced criticism.
When he was the education minister in 2021, a speech delivered by Shrestha in Oli’s support during the convocation ceremony of Tribhuvan University drew widespread attention.
At the time, in an angry tone, he repeatedly said, “Is there anyone with the guts to remove KP Oli?” He went on to add, “KP Oli is KP Oli, KP Oli is the Pele of football.”
However, the same Shrestha has now left the Oli camp at the ongoing 11th general convention and joined the faction of Oli’s rival Pokharel.
Shrestha, who is close to former president Bidya Devi Bhandari, is said to have drifted away from Oli due to that relationship. Those close to him say that he decided to contest from Oli’s rival camp, claiming that “KP Oli committed a crime” by denying Bhandari party membership.
Shrestha has long been active in UML politics mainly within the Kathmandu Valley, and is also a popular leader in the Valley. He has won parliamentary elections four times since 1990 and has been a central committee member of the UML since the sixth general convention.
Shrestha has served as a minister multiple times. He has held portfolios including minister of state for local development, minister for urban development, health and population, youth and sports, labor, employment and social security, forests and environment, and education, science and technology.
He courted controversy during his tenure as education minister. The speech he delivered at Tribhuvan University’s convocation ceremony in support of Oli at that time also drew controversy.
Raghuji Panta, whom Oli had appointed education minister during his premiership, has also broken away from him.
Panta had aspired to become a vice-chairperson from the Oli camp. After his aspiration was not addressed, he filed his candidacy for vice-chairperson from the Ishwar Pokharel camp. “I have registered my candidacy. I am contesting for vice-chairperson,” Panta told Setopati.
Rajendra Gautam, who previously served as chief of the party’s publicity department, is also a trusted aide of Oli. On that basis, he had expressed his aspiration for the post of deputy general secretary. However, he failed to secure a place in Oli’s team.
After being excluded from Oli’s team, Gautam also broke away and registered his candidacy for deputy general secretary. “I have already registered my candidacy for the post of deputy general secretary,” Gautam told Setopati.
Agni Kharel has also registered his candidacy independently for the post of secretary. Kharel had served as attorney general when Oli was prime minister.
After he also failed to make it into Oli’s team, Kharel filed his candidacy for secretary independently.
After it was decided that Shankar Pokharel would become general secretary from the Oli camp, former deputy general secretary Pradeep Gyawali is dissatisfied. Gyawali had aspired to the post of general secretary from the beginning.
When Oli re-nominated Pokharel as general secretary and proposed Gyawali for vice-chairperson, Gyawali reportedly left the nomination venue in protest.
Bishnu Paudel had attempted to persuade him to contest for vice-chairperson, but Gyawali did not agree, according to a leader close to him.
When Oli announced his final team on Monday morning, he named Bishnu Paudel, Ram Bahadur Thapa, Guru Baral, Prithvi Subba Gurung, and Pradeep Gyawali as vice-chairperson candidates.
He named Shankar Pokhrel as general secretary, and Raghubir Mahaseth, Bishnu Rimal, and Bhanu Bhakta Dhakal as deputy general secretary candidates.
Padma Aryal, Chhabilal Bishwakarma, Lekhraj Bhatta, Khagaraj Adhikari, Yamlal Kandel, Sherdhan Rai, Mahesh Basnet, Hikmat Karki, and Rajan Bhattarai were named as candidates for secretary.
Bhatta, a former Maoist, announced that he would not contest after being named as a secretary candidate.
Bhatta had broken away from Pushpa Kamal Dahal and sided with Oli when the then CPN split. He is also the UML’s Sudurpaschim province in-charge and had previously served as a secretary.
Only after Bhatta announced his withdrawal was a compromise reached by offering him the post of deputy general secretary and replacing him with Bhanu Bhakta Dhakal, who had already been finalized as a deputy general secretary candidate, as secretary.
The Ishwar Pokharel camp has also adopted a policy of accommodating disgruntled aspirants from the Oli camp in its team.
The final list of candidates for Tuesday’s voting is scheduled to be made public by 6 pm on Monday.
