Nepali Congress President Gagan Thapa has begun talks with leaders from the party’s non-establishment faction as part of efforts to resolve the differences that emerged within the party following the special general convention and to prepare for the 15th general convention. He is also preparing to address the demands raised by the faction.
Although discussions with outgoing party president Sher Bahadur Deuba have not been possible, Thapa is in talks with outgoing acting president Purna Bahadur Khadka and leader Shekhar Koirala. Party leaders say Thapa is preparing to make necessary decisions through a meeting of the central committee following these discussions.
The Deuba faction has already formed a 15th general convention preparation committee under former general secretary Shashank Koirala and announced a schedule to hold the 15th general convention from December 7 to 9. The faction has also opened a liaison office in Chundevi and has been carrying out parallel activities.
At the same time, the party establishment has moved toward addressing demands previously raised by Khadka and Koirala, who have expressed dissatisfaction with the activities of the Deuba-led faction and have taken a position in favor of party unity.
“News reports have been appearing in the media that I have held talks and discussions with leaders Purna Bahadur Khadka and Shekhar Koirala,” Thapa said at a meeting of the central committee held in Sanepa on Sunday. “The nature of those discussions is important in itself, but at present, the Bhotekoshi flood disaster is more important.”
Thapa did not disclose the issues discussed with Khadka and Koirala. However, he is understood to have briefed office-bearers about the discussions held with leaders from the non-establishment faction as part of efforts to unite the party.
General Secretary Pradip Paudel said that the party was ready to address the demands raised by Khadka and Koirala.
According to Paudel, party members who renewed their active membership by December 25, 2025, will be allowed to participate in the 15th general convention.
The Nepali Congress had previously planned to prevent members whose details had not been updated from participating in the general convention. Around 600,000 members renewed their active memberships, while approximately 200,000 obtained new active memberships of the party.
According to party leaders, about 80 percent of active members have already updated their details.
Khadka and Koirala had been demanding that members who renewed their membership by December 25 be allowed to participate unconditionally in the 15th general convention. The party establishment now appears willing to meet this demand as part of efforts to end internal divisions.
“If members who renewed their membership by December 25 wish to participate in the 15th general convention, we will allow them to do so,” said General Secretary Paudel, who also heads the membership management committee.
According to party spokesperson Devraj Chalise, everyone except those who have violated party discipline, left the party, or died will be allowed to participate in the 15th general convention.
“A decision has been made to allow members who renewed their membership but did not update their details to participate in the 15th general convention,” he said.
With this decision, the party establishment has addressed one of Khadka and Koirala’s key demands: making membership updates non-mandatory and automatically allowing those who renewed their membership to participate in the general convention.
Khadka and Koirala had also demanded that 111 individuals who were excluded from the central committee elected by the special general convention but had been members of the committee elected by the 14th general convention in 2021 be reinstated as central members. Thapa had previously responded that this demand could not be fulfilled under the party statute.
Koirala subsequently proposed forming a mechanism to ensure that the 15th general convention is conducted fairly. The establishment faction has also agreed to this proposal.
According to Paudel, if there is a need for such a mechanism, the president will be authorized to form it. The plan is to establish a mechanism comprising leaders from all factions, while maintaining a majority for the president’s side, to assist in preparations for the general convention.
The party establishment also appears ready to ensure fairness of the general convention by including leaders from all factions in bodies such as the active membership inquiry committee, central election committee, disciplinary committee, and statute amendment committee. At present, these committees consist only of members who came through the special general convention.
“We are taking concrete steps to unite the party and head into the 15th general convention. Before that, there has been decisive dialogue with leaders Khadka and Koirala, and based on those discussions, today’s meeting of the central committee will make various decisions,” a party office-bearer said. “We are fulfilling almost all of the demands that the non-establishment faction has consistently raised. Such decisions were necessary to send a message of broader unity within the party before the ward conventions begin. It is not yet clear whether leaders Khadka and Koirala will come individually or bring their close associates with them after these decisions. In any case, the party’s decisions will help promote unity.”
President Thapa and leader Koirala held talks on Sunday. According to Koirala’s secretariat, Koirala told Thapa during the discussion that he stood in favor of party unity.
During the meeting with Thapa, Koirala made it clear that “at a time when the country, democracy, and nationality are facing difficulties, there is no alternative to keeping the party united, and he is prepared to make whatever sacrifices are necessary from his side for that,” according to his personal secretary Dinesh Chandra Thapaliya.
Other leaders have also been making efforts and putting forward proposals to promote unity within the party.
At the central committee meeting, leader Arjun Narsingh KC presented a five-point proposal, some aspects of which are similar to demands raised by the non-establishment faction.
KC proposed merging the previous central committee and the current committee under the leadership of the party president, within the framework of the special general convention. This is an issue that leader Koirala has long been raising.
KC also proposed suspending the relevant provision of the party statute to increase the size of the central committee as necessary through consultation; granting full authority to the central committee to conduct a fair general convention through the first meeting of the central working committee; allowing the central committee to make changes to the election committee, active membership inquiry committee, and disciplinary committee as necessary for preparations for the general convention and guarantee its fairness; unanimously setting November 3-5 as the final dates for the 15th general convention, one month later than the previously announced schedule; and committing that the schedule would not be postponed under any pretext.
Although KC presented the proposal at Sunday’s central committee meeting, President Thapa said that the 15th general convention would not be postponed.
According to Thapa, it does not currently appear possible to hold ward conventions in flood-hit Rasuwa, Nuwakot, and Dhading. Although the ward conventions are scheduled for September 9, preparations are underway to postpone them by about a week due to the disaster and ongoing efforts to unite the party.
Thapa said that although lower-level conventions may be postponed, the 15th general convention will be inaugurated in Kathmandu on October 2. He is holding decisive talks with the non-establishment faction ahead of the ward conventions.
However, dialogue with outgoing president Deuba and his faction has not yet been possible. At present, while Khadka and Koirala appear positive about party unity, other leaders from the Deuba faction remain adamant that the 15th general convention should be held under Deuba’s leadership.
Deuba faction leaders had decided at a national gathering held from August 14 to 16 to hold the general convention under Deuba’s leadership.
