KATHMANDU, Dec 18: The 15th General Convention of the Nepali Congress (NC) scheduled to be held in Kathmandu from January 10 to 12, 2026 is increasingly likely to be postponed, party sources said.
With just 23 days remaining before the convention is set to begin, unresolved issues related to active membership forms have made it difficult to meet the deadline. According to a senior party official, the convention is likely to be deferred by at least a month due to complications in the active membership process.
Even without disputes, meeting the January 10 deadline had already been challenging, the official said, adding that problems with active membership forms have further weakened the possibility of holding the convention on time. “Since nearly 400,000 new active membership forms will have to be resent to districts, holding the convention on January 10 is no longer possible,” the official said.
According to the official, efforts are now underway to finalize active membership by mid-January and hold the convention by mid-February or the third week of February. The official also said it has become almost certain that the House of Representatives (HoR) election scheduled for March 5 will not take place. “If the parliamentary election happens, the general convention will be held afterward,” he added.
Once the active membership issue is resolved, a slight shift in the convention date would not make much difference, the official said. As per the Central Working Committee (CWC)’s decision on December 1, the party distributed 600,000 new active membership forms through districts to lower levels, of which 400,000 lacked serial numbers.
The absence of serial numbers created confusion and disputes at the grassroots level. On Tuesday, NC leader Dr Shekhar Koirala met party President Sher Bahadur Deuba and drew his attention to the issue. Following this, Deuba directed that the forms without serial numbers be canceled and replaced with new ones.
A meeting of the Active Membership Management Committee, coordinated by General Secretary Gagan Kumar Thapa, decided to resend new forms to districts, disrupting the pre-announced membership distribution schedule.
The CWC had earlier decided to distribute new active membership forms from the center by December 6 and deliver them to wards by December 10. The schedule had also set December 23 as the deadline for completing membership distribution and December 29 for submitting lists to the party president or acting president.
The party had planned to form district-level preliminary screening committees for active membership, with committees required to report to the center by December 27 and complete appeal hearings by December 29.
After prolonged internal debate over whether to hold the 15th General Convention before or after the parliamentary elections—or as a special convention—the CWC decided to convene it from January 10. As per the public schedule, overseas NC chapters were to complete their conventions by December 10, followed by ward conventions on December 31, municipal conventions on January 1, and constituency conventions on January 3.
District and constituency conventions were scheduled for January 5 and 6, provincial conventions for January 7 and 8, and the national convention in Kathmandu from January 10 to 12.
Forms without serial numbers unacceptable
According to Republica Daily’s Biratnagar correspondent Binod Subedi, Dr. Shekhar Koirala has also expressed doubts about whether the HoR elections will be held on the scheduled date.
Speaking to journalists in Biratnagar on Wednesday, Koirala said that while political parties are prepared for elections, the government has failed to create a conducive environment. “This gives the impression that the government itself is not keen on holding elections,” he said.
Koirala said the NC has already decided to participate in the elections, but concerns are growing over whether the government is willing to conduct them. He warned that failure to hold elections on time could lead to the process of reinstating the HoR.
Responding to questions about rumors of a delay in the party’s general convention, Koirala urged people not to worry excessively. “We want to hold it on time, but when active membership forms without serial numbers have reached districts, it becomes difficult to confidently say the convention will be held as scheduled,” he said.
He reiterated that forms without serial numbers would not be accepted. “We have clearly told President Deuba that active membership forms without serial numbers are unacceptable, and those forms have already been canceled,” Koirala said, urging party workers not to fill such forms as new ones would be distributed soon.