NAWALPARASI, April 9: Amidst thunderous applause from thousands of its cadres, the top leaders of the Nepali Congress (NC) on Monday vowed to come out with flying colors in the upcoming CA elections.
Under pressure from its cadres, the leaders also promised to strengthen the party unity to make NC the number one party in the election.[break]
The four-day long Mahasamiti meeting kicked off here Monday organizing a huge mass meeting at Parasi Bazaar.
Addressing the inaugural session of the Mahasamiti meet, the leaders argued that NC´s victory is guaranteed in the election as people will chase away all those ´liars´ and ´deceivers´ in the next election.
“Nepali Congress is a party that believes in the people. We hold our heads high if people give us victory and hold our head low when they do not,” NC president Sushil Koirala said.
Koirala maintained that UCPN (Maoist) won the last election by giving false assurances to the people. “Congress never lies to people in the election,” he said, adding, “Whatever we say we do. This is the reason why people trust us.”
Koirala argued that fresh election should be held by November if that was not possible within July. “But we are ready to go to polls even in July,” he said while countering the allegations of the UCPN (Maoist) leaders that NC was not ready to go to polls anytime soon.
Koirala assured party cadres that the party remains united at the center and called upon the leaders and cadres to be united at the local levels as well.
Stung by the party´s defeat in Tarai-Madhesh during the last election, the leaders ruled out the allegation of the party being ´anti-Madhes´.
“Though we lost elections in Madhes, it is NC´s birthplace,” senior leader Sher Bahadur Deuba said, adding, “Madheshi people had punished us. But we moved ahead and we have now won back their confidence.”
While brushing aside allegations made by Madheshi and Maoist parties that NC is anti-federalist party and always stands against the cause of Madheshi, ethnic indigenous people and women, Deuba alleged that the newly-formed Madheshi parties are plundering the nation for their personal benefits in the name of Madhesh and Madheshi people. “NC should be strong for inclusive democracy. We all should be united to turn NC into the largest party. Once NC emerges as the largest party after the election, this can bring all the other parties back on track,” he added.
Vice-president Ram Chandra Paudel said the victory of NC is a must to bail the country out of the current political uncertainty as communist parties in Nepal know only to create problems and disorder. “But they do not know how to resolve the problem. The erstwhile Constituent Assembly failed to promulgate new federal constitution since the troublemakers did not have absolute majority.”
The Mahasamiti meeting, which is the party´s second topmost body after General Convention, is mandated to take policy-related decisions. The closed session of the Mahasamiti meeting will start Tuesday at Gajendramoksha, Trivenidham, some 23 kilometers south of the district headquarters.
The four-day national gathering is expected to bring amendments to the party statute in line with suggestions offered by the 12th General Convention and endorse a political paper that would clarify the party´s stand on issues such as federalism, system of governance, issues related to Tarai-Madhesh and the future course of the party.
Earlier in the morning, a man identified as Binod Kandel was electrocuted while two others were injured in course of preparing the stage at the venue of inaugural session. Critically injured Kandel died while being rushed to the hospital. The two injured are undergoing treatment at a local hospital.
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