Nepali Congress General Secretary Gagan Thapa has expressed dissent over the party’s alliance with the CPN-UML and the selection of candidates for the National Assembly election.
Speaking at a meeting of the party’s central working committee, Thapa objected to the fact that leaders finalized candidates by pulling names "from their pockets" without holding any discussion in the party.
"The names still need to be approved by the central working committee. But the candidates have already left with their nomination papers," Thapa told reporters after the meeting. "The central committee and the parliamentary board were insulted while selecting candidates for the National Assembly."
He also raised questions about the alliance with the CPN-UML.
"Clusters have been divided to accommodate people from the pockets of the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML. Names have been included by specifying clusters" he said.
Thapa pointed out that among the nine candidates fielded by the Nepali Congress for the National Assembly, three were not recommended by any party committee. He also objected to the fact that the selection did not include a single candidate from the Janajati or Muslim community.
“Candidates were recommended from leaders’ pockets. Decisions were made on the basis of personal relationships,” Thapa said. “I have formally registered my dissent. This is where the Nepali Congress has arrived by violating procedures and the party statute. The roles of myself and the other general secretary, Bishwa Prakash Sharma, have been cornered. We have been surrounded.”
He added: “I’ve said in the meeting, the circle here is small, but the circle of supporters and well-wishers is big. You are forcing me to move toward that wider circle. A blockade based on numbers does not make any difference to me personally.”
Thapa also remarked that if the party had formed an alliance with the Nepali Communist Party instead of the UML, it could have secured 15 seats.
“Yesterday’s meeting talked about forming an alliance with everyone, including the Nepali Communist Party. It was said that seats are not the big issue, the Constitution and the country are,” he said. “Today, agreement could not be reached on just one seat, and then it was said that seats are bigger than the Constitution.”
Registration of candidacies is taking place on Wednesday in all seven provinces for 18 seats of the National Assembly. The Nepali Congress, CPN-UML, and Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal have agreed on a seat-sharing arrangement of 9, 8, and 1 seats respectively.
