Nepali Congress President Gagan Thapa has begun a final effort to resolve differences within the party ahead of the start of ward-level conventions under the party’s 15th general convention.
As part of the effort, Thapa has held meetings with former acting president Purna Bahadur Khadka and leader Shekhar Koirala.
According to a Nepali Congress office-bearer who spoke to Setopati, Thapa and Khadka met on Saturday evening. The meeting was described as positive.
Thapa met leader Koirala at 11 a.m. on Sunday.
Khadka and Koirala did not participate in the special general convention held in January.
The faction led by former president Sher Bahadur Deuba, which also did not participate in the special general convention, has separately announced a schedule to hold its own general convention. Thapa held talks with Khadka and Koirala, who were absent from the Chundevi meeting where the schedule was announced.
The party has scheduled ward-level conventions to begin on September 9.
Before that, Thapa is expected to meet Deuba, Khadka, and Koirala in a final attempt to unite the party, the Nepali Congress office-bearer said. Thapa had previously sought a meeting with Deuba, but the Deuba faction did not give him time.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court did not issue an interim order to halt the schedule for the 15th general convention. The Nepali Congress is therefore preparing to hold the general convention from October 2 to 5 according to the announced schedule.
However, the party appears willing to revise the schedule for lower-level conventions if an agreement is reached with the dissident faction.
“President Thapa already met former acting president Khadka yesterday evening. He went to meet leader Shekhar Koirala at 11 this morning. He will brief the office-bearers about those meetings at 1 p.m., and there is also a meeting of the central committee,” the office-bearer told Setopati.
If an agreement is reached with leaders from the non-establishment faction, the convention schedule could be revised.
“If an agreement is reached with leaders Khadka and Koirala, the ward convention scheduled for September 9 could be postponed up to September 18. If no agreement is reached, the ward conventions will begin on September 9 as scheduled,” the office-bearer said.
The office-bearer said that whether an agreement is reached is also linked to the case pending before the Supreme Court.
“Former president Deuba and former acting president Khadka have filed a case at the Supreme Court. If an agreement is reached and the schedule is revised, the question of what happens to the case pending at the Supreme Court will also arise. In that situation, they would have to withdraw the case,” the office-bearer said.
Deuba and Khadka had sought a review of the court’s decision concerning the special general convention, and the court had granted permission for the review to proceed.
Thapa is also preparing to hold talks with the Deuba faction.
The Deuba faction has already formed a committee to prepare for the 15th general convention under former general secretary Shashank Koirala and has been holding meetings. It has also announced its own general convention schedule while carrying out parallel activities.
Some leaders, meanwhile, are in favor of postponing the convention for some time due to the monsoon, floods and landslides, among other factors.
Leader Nain Singh Mahar, who is running a “Campaign to Connect the Country and Congress,” said that it would be appropriate to postpone the convention because the country is currently facing disasters such as floods and landslides.
“It would be appropriate to hold the 15th general convention after Dashain,” he said.
