Nepali Congress General Secretary Pradip Paudel has registered his candidacy for the same post at the party’s 15th general convention.
Paudel visited the Rastriya Sabha Griha (City Hall) on Tuesday and registered his nomination for the general secretary position under the open category.
Under the Nepali Congress’s new statute, three general secretaries will be elected – two from the open category and one from the women’s quota. Paudel is contesting under the open category.
Paudel was unanimously elected general secretary at the party’s second special general convention held in January. The special general convention elected him general secretary along with Gururaj Ghimire.
Four years earlier, Paudel had lost the race for general secretary at the party’s 14th general convention.
At the time, Paudel, who contested from the Sher Bahadur Deuba faction, finished fourth with 1,409 votes. Gagan Thapa and Bishwo Prakash Sharma were elected general secretaries.
Paudel subsequently remained active as a Nepali Congress central member. In the 2022 House of Representatives election, he was elected from Kathmandu Constituency No. 5, securing 15,269 votes, according to Election Commission data.
Paudel rose to the Nepali Congress’s mainstream leadership through student politics. In 1996, he became president of the Free Student Union at Amrit Science Campus.
In 2007, he became central president of the Nepal Students’ Union. He was also arrested during the 2006 People’s Movement. According to his official parliamentary profile, he has been affiliated with the Nepali Congress since 1991.
After being elected to the House of Representatives in 2022, Paudel became minister for health and population in the government led by KP Sharma Oli. He served as health minister for about a year.
He said that he had prioritized improving health services, health insurance, and services at public hospitals, among other areas, during his tenure.
Paudel resigned as minister following the Gen Z movement in September 2025. Expressing dissatisfaction over the crackdown during the movement, he said that it was morally inappropriate for him to remain in office.
After leaving the government, Paudel became active within the Nepali Congress in support of leadership change and a special general convention. He described the special general convention as the first step toward advancing the party’s constitutional process.
The campaign eventually led to the special general convention, where he was elected general secretary.
About nine months after the special general convention, Paudel has entered the race again for the post of general secretary.
The Nepali Congress has published the final voter list of 7,114 delegates for the 15th general convention, which will elect the party’s new leadership.
According to the election schedule, voting for the new leadership will be held on October 7 and 8.
