The newly elected central working committee of the Nepali Congress, chosen at the party’s 15th general convention, will formally assume full responsibility for running the party starting Thursday.
The newly elected office-bearers and central committee members are scheduled to take their oaths of office and assume their responsibilities at a ceremony scheduled for 2 p.m. Thursday at the party’s central office in Sanepa, Lalitpur.
According to the party’s central election committee, all office-bearers and central committee members, except the party president, will take the oath of office and secrecy at the ceremony.
As party President Gagan Thapa took the oath of office and secrecy on October 17, the other office-bearers and members are scheduled to be sworn in on Thursday.
Advocate Raju Katuwal, member-secretary of the election committee, said that the oath-taking ceremony would follow a different format from previous years. According to him, the newly elected leaders will receive their certificates and formally assume office on Thursday.
The final results of the election held as part of the 15th general convention, which took place in Kathmandu from October 4 to 9, were officially announced on October 16. The convention’s inaugural and closed sessions were held at Khula Manch, while voting took place at Khula Manch and the Rastriya Sabha Griha.
Voting for the convention was held on October 9. The counting of votes for the party president began that night at the Rastriya Sabha Griha. The results of the presidential election were announced on the morning of October 10.
Vote counting for the other positions began on the night of October 10 at the party’s central office, BP Smriti Bhawan, in Sanepa.
Katuwal said that while counting the votes of 4,700 voters took 12 days during the 14th general convention, the votes of 7,392 voters were counted in just one week this time.
He said that nearly 162,000 ballot papers had to be counted during the latest convention. Elections were held for a total of 229 positions across 77 categories of posts. Each voter was required to cast votes using 23 separate ballot papers.
Gagan Thapa was elected party president with 94 percent of the votes.
Similarly, Bishwa Prakash Sharma was elected senior vice-president; Chandrakanta Bhandari and Madhu Acharya were elected vice-presidents under the open category; Pushpa Bhusal was elected woman vice-president; and Binod Chaudhary was elected vice-president under the inclusive category.
Likewise, Pradip Paudel, Uday Shumsher Rana, and Dila Sangraula (Panta) were elected general secretaries.
The Nepali Congress said that the general convention had elected a central working committee that reflects inclusive representation and an academic orientation.
Following the oath-taking ceremony and the formal assumption of office, the new central working committee is also scheduled to hold its first meeting in Sanepa on Thursday.
Party leaders said that the meeting would also discuss upcoming district and provincial-level conventions.
Oath halted for four central members facing court cases
Meanwhile, the party has decided to halt the swearing-in of four newly elected central members who have pending court cases.
An office-bearer told Setopati that preparations are underway not to administer the oath immediately to Santosh Chalise, Mohan Basnet, Binita Khadka, and Umesh Chandra Yadav, who were elected as central members from the party’s 15th general convention.
According to the office-bearer, the party is preparing to keep their positions on hold.
