NC now set for General Convention as active membership distribution row is finally settled

KATHMANDU, August 24: A bitter row between the establishment faction and rival faction within the Nepali Congress(NC) over the distribution of the party’s active membership officially came to an end on Monday. 

The grand old party in the country is now headed for its 14th General Convention with leaders assigned to settle the active membership distribution row, submitting the final list of the active members to party President Sher Bahadur Deuba and senior leader Ram Chandra Paudel on Monday. The party has decided to hold its 14th General Convention from November 25-29 in Kathmandu.

Former General Secretary Krishna Prasad Sitaula submitted the report on behalf of the leaders assigned to resolve the remaining disputes of active membership at the private residence of party President and Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba in Budhanilkantha. The party had given responsibility to Central Working Committee members Dr Minendra Rijal and Ramesh Lekhak along with leader Sitaula to settle the remaining disputes of active membership.

After the finalization of the active membership, the village / town ward convention of the Nepali Congress scheduled for September 3 is now set to be held within the stipulated date. Leaders and cadres have already started to go to districts and villages for the convention. There are nearly 900,000 active members, who are going to cast their votes at the party's village / town ward conventions. According to the party’s statute, the active members can elect their ward committees and regional representatives.

The report prepared by the leaders assigned to settle the active membership distribution row will be handed over to the party's Central Election Committee after Deuba signs the active membership details. Mahadev Prasad Yadav, coordinator of the Election Committee, informed Republica that the details of the active membership will be sent to all 77 districts within a day or two. He said that due to the lack of time, the committee will use helicopters to deliver the list of general members in some mountainous districts.

Similarly, the Election Committee aims to deliver the bundle of active membership list, party constitution and rules, election guidelines and certificates to the members to be elected at least one week before and two days after the ward convention is held in each district headquarters.

According to Yadav, all printing work has been completed and 7,000 to 8,000 bundles of  active membership list will be sent to all wards and election committees across the country. The committee expects the election materials to reach 41 accessible districts within the stipulated time as per the plan. However, the remaining 36 districts in the mountains and remote hills have some transportation challenges. Apart from this, the party also faces the challenges of COVID-19 pandemic and floods in various parts of the country.

For the convention, the Election Committee has appointed election officers in all districts from the Democratic Lawyers’ Society (DLS) affiliated legal practitioners who are considered close to the party. According to Yadav, they will appoint polling officers in each ward in coordination with the party’s district president and teachers.

The NC has amended their party statute for full democratic practice and have made arrangements for tole, ward, village / municipality, province assembly level constituency, constituency of the federal parliament, district working committee, state working committee and central working committee. According to the new statute, the NC Central Working Committee will have a total of 168 members including a president, two vice presidents, two general secretaries, eight joint general secretaries, a treasurer and 154 members.

The meeting of the NC Central Working Committee held on August 14 said that the candidate for the chairmanship of the working committee of the village / town / sub-metropolis and metropolis for the party's 14th general convention could be from the regional representative. The active members can also be the candidate for the office-bearers and members of the working committee. Voters can also be the candidate for the ward chairperson and regional representative in the working committee.

According to the revised calendar of events endorsed by the party’s Central Working Committee meeting held on August 14, the NC will hold the village and municipal ward level convention on September 3, the village / municipality level convention on September 12, the province assembly regional convention on September 17, the House of Representatives regional convention / district convention with only one constituency will be on September 25.

Similarly, the NC has decided to hold the district level convention with more than one constituency of federal parliament on September 26, the province level convention on October 27 to 29 and the central general convention on November 25 to December 2 in Kathmandu.