His death is a serious blow to the Koirala family that has led the party's establishment side for decades, mainly because it comes at such a critical time when conventions for electing local and district-level representatives have already begun.
It was widely believed that the establishment faction led mainly by the Koirala family was already in trouble due to disputes within.
Party Vice-President Ram Chandra Paudel, who is from the same faction, has been campaigning for his own candidacy for the party's top post.
General Secretary Krishna Sitaula and leader Sujata Koirala have also announced that they too are running for the top party post.
Against this backdrop, it had been assumed that even President Koirala would face a tough time defeating Deuba, who has been prime minister multiple times in the past.
With the demise of Koirala, the faction is believed to have been further weakened for lack of a leader to match the stature and personality of Deuba, who had challenged even the late Girija Prasad Koirala.
"After Sushil's passing, leaders from the Koirala clan who have made a great contribution for democracy and party building are no more in the NC for now, and this will definitely affect the establishment side during the upcoming convention," said political analyst Krishna Khanal. "But this does not necessarily mean that Deuba will make good the opportunity." In Khanal's view, the establishment side's retaining its hold on the party will depend on further equations within the faction.
The party rank and file and many interlocutors argue that coming up with a single and unanimous candidate from the establishment side is a challenging task as persuading the aspirants in the absence of Koirala will be tough.
The party statute provisions that any candidate must garner at least 50 percent of the vote to be elected party president. Failing than a second round vote would occur.
However, Geja Sharma Wagle, another political analyst, says that all aspirants from the establishment side may unite for a consensus candidate from the faction in a bid to stop Deuba from bagging the party leadership.
"It was challenging even for Koirala to manage the aspirants from the establishment side. Now in his absence, Paudel or any other leader would face a challenge to be acceptable for all sides within the faction," Wagle told Republica.
However, Wagle also believes that the NC should transform this challenge into an opportunity to hand over the party leadership to the right person in the party. "NC should now utilize this challenge as an opportunity for leadership handover and initiate the process from the convention," he said.
NC senior leader and political expert Nilamber Acharya believes that the upcoming general convention will end the long-running rivalry between the Koirala clan and the Deuba faction. "The party leaders should use the March convention to end this permanent factionalism in the party, they must come away from the mentality of establishment versus Deuba faction," Acharya told Republica.
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