The Nepali Congress central committee meeting, which ran for nine days at the party’s central office in Sanepa, has concluded with a decision to hold the party’s 15th general convention from October 2 to 5, as originally scheduled.
Addressing the central cmmittee meeting, party President Gagan Thapa said that the general convention would be held according to the predetermined schedule.
However, there will be some changes to the schedules for conventions at the lower levels, including the ward level.
Thapa said that the convention-related processes would begin from Tuesday.
The central election committee, coordinated by Prem Bahadur Khadka, will train election officers in Thapa’s presence at the party’s Sanepa office at 2 p.m. on Tuesday.
The training is being organized for election officers appointed to conduct elections in various districts under the 15th general convention, scheduled for October 2–5. The party has appointed individuals with legal backgrounds as election officers.
President Thapa has been trying to include all factions and ideological groups within the party in the 15th general convention.
“I will try to hold dialogue with leaders for a few more days,” he said at Monday’s central committee meeting. “The central general convention will be held on the predetermined dates. We will invite former president Sher Bahadur Deuba to the inaugural session of the general convention on October 2.”
Thapa also pledged that the general convention would be conducted in a fair and transparent manner. He said that those who did not participate in the special general convention could also be included in various committees, including those overseeing the review of active membership.
The Nepali Congress has around 800,000 active members.
Thapa noted that eight district presidents and some constituency-level presidents were found to have participated in a gathering organized by the party’s non-establishment faction from August 14 to 16. He said that attending such gatherings has been a longstanding practice within the party and that he himself had organized similar gatherings in the past.
However, Thapa warned that if any leader says they will not hold a district or constituency convention within the stipulated timeframe, they will be “stripped” of their responsibilities.
A similar approach was taken during the updating of active membership, when the responsibilities of some ward presidents and constituency presidents who did not cooperate with the update process were assigned to other members of their respective committees.
“People are free to participate in gatherings; holding gatherings is like a tradition in the Nepali Congress, and I had also organized some gatherings. But if any colleague says that they will not implement the schedule decided by the party or cannot conduct the convention, then another colleague will be given that responsibility and the convention will be held,” Thapa said.
Thapa said that he was continuing efforts to unite the party.
He also told the central committee that he had held repeated discussions with former acting president Purna Bahadur Khadka and leader Shekhar Koirala as part of those efforts, and that both had been playing a role in favor of party unity.
